Evening star., 1949-11-26
.17'Propwash'
Blamed for Cut
In Power Line
Pilots Say Bomber
Landing at Boiling
Didn't Touch Wires

thorough inspection disclosed no
marks on the Bit. The two Air
Force pilots, 1t. Col. William H.
Campbell, 80, of Chicago. and Maj
Van R. Parker, SO. of Oakland, ILL.,,
described the 4,000-volt power
lines breakage as a minor acci-
dent" that caused no injury to the
six men in the plane.
The wires fell in the vicinity of
Second and Chesapeake streets
S.W. following a shower of sparks
as the low-lying craft made a
landing approach to a Boiling
runway after a flight from Offut
Air Force Base, Omaha.
Pole Split Full Length.
A 40-foot utility pole nearest the
broken lines was split vertically
it's entire length, Linemen had to
reinforce it with bolts before re-
pairs could be completed. The
lines fell within a few feet of a
house that the Government bought
in 1946 because it stood directly in
line of a main runway at Boiling
base.
A young eyewitness, John
Douglas, II, of 4016 First place
S.W. a carrier boy for The Star,
said last night he thought the big
bomber hit the wires. He was COL
7lecting in the vicinity of Chesa-
peake street and Nichols avenue
S.W. when he saw the plane "aw-
full low" He described a shower
of sparks and said the plane
bounced up in the air and then
flew over the hill out of sight as
if it was going to land
The two pilots and the navi-.
gator, Capt. Albert H. Grinstead,
j., 80, of Lincoln. Nebr.. said the
plane cleared the power lines "by
from three to four feet"
Felt Nothing in Plane.
"We felt nothing in the plane, -
Col. Campbell, the pilot, related.
THE lines were probably blown
together and short circuited. We
saw blush flash in the sky at
the time
The incident was one in recent
series involving military aircraft
in this vicinity. The most serious
occurred November when a
Bolivian P-38 fighter craft collided
with an Eastern Air Lines plane
with death toll of IS.
The pilot and co-pilot of the
Bit said they regretted the in
convenience that the mishar
caused householders and shoppers
at the dinner hour. So far as
the plane was concerned. Col
Campbell reported. it had been
coming in at about lis miles an
hour and the approach was per
Ifectly normal with a great deal of
clearance Capt. Grinsted de-
clared 1--WE were well over the
wires"
A Boiling base official comment
ed that q plane travelling at that
speed almost certainly would have
turned over if it had hit wires
or any similar obstruction.
Normal Landing Made.
The plane landed at 5::52 pm
at the base. Col. Campbell said
that after seeing the flash he
Immediately gunned the engines
but made a normal landing.
Meanwhile, lights in hundreds
of houses and stores in the Con-
gress Heights and Bellevue sec
tions of Washington went out,
Service was restored after two
hours of repair work, a Potomac
Electric Power Co. spokesman an
nounced. The crack in one of
the 40-foot poles apparently re-
suited from a considerable force
and might have been caused by a
violent impact against wires, he
explained.
The greatest inconvenience to
the public consisted of the tenn
porary shut-off electric stoves in
homes and the darkness and lack
Iof electric power in stores.
Electric cash registers were out
of commission and customers were
locked in some stores until they
could be checked out in orderly
fashion.
Others in Crew.
Others aboard the bomber with
Col. Campbell, Maj. Parker and
Capt. Grinsted were TISergt. John
c. Caputo, 81, of 6331 Marlboro
Pike Sc, flight engineer; 1t. Col.
Harvey Rivkins of Omaha, a pas
senger, and 1t. Daniel Matthews
lof Anchorage, Alaska, also pas
Isenger.
Col. Campbell is rated senior
pilot. He was at Pearl Harbor
when war broke out and evacuated
former President Manuel Quezon
from the Philippines by air. For
this he received a Distinguished
Flying Cross, Of which he has
two. He has more than 1000 hours
flying Bits, and 2,400 hours
total in all types of planes.
Maj. Parker, who has two Dis
tinguished Flying Crosses, four
Air Medals and other decorations,
has 5000 hours flying time, mostly
in B-29s.
When. the lights went out In
the stores. many persons who were
doing their weekend grocery
shopping were locked inside for
nearly an hour after electrically
operated cash registers went out,
slowing up tallying of bills. Radio
and teleyision sets and refrigera-
tors also went out of order.
Montgomery Cob Driver
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