Evening star., 1949-12-13
Air Traffic Jam
AT Time Of Crash
Denied byCAA
All 19 Who Survived
Tragedy, in Which a
Died, Are Improving
(Other Crash Stories and Pictures
on Pages A-3 and BIZ

Civil Aeronautics Administra-
ton officials said today there
were no unusual traffic conditions
over Washington last night when
a Capital Airlines DC-3 plunged
into the Potomac, killing and
injuring 10.
In all the plane was over the
Washington area only II min
utes, officials said.
Their statement contradicted
earlier reports of as many as 40
AIRLINER WAS Following Radio
Road. Page A-4.
planes stacked up" over the i'm
mediate area because of dense fog
that forced all planes to land by
the radar instrument system.
All 19 of those who miraculous
ly escaped death when the plane
fell into feet of water. about 500
yards from Boiling Air Force Base.
were off the "critical' list today.
AS Navy workmen began NOV
ing the wreckage from the river
for study by Government investi-
gators, the Civil Aeronautics
Board announced a public hear
ing before a 5 or 7 man panel
within a week or 10 days.
Swerved Sharply to Right.
But whether the secret of the
crash will remain locked with the
deaths of the pilot and co-pilot,
William j. Davis and Lloyd L.
Porter, both of Alexandria, will
depend largely on what officials
learn from records of pilot-con-
troll tower conversation.
Also killed in the crash were
Mrs. William Chertow of Brook
lyn and Neville Lassiter. 2310
South Columbus street, Arlington.
Among the survivors were How
ard Oakes, Eastern Seaboard divi-
sion manager of Montgomery
Ward & Co.; Henry Grimes, here
on a special mission for the Libe-
lrian government, and John w.
Buell. of Sill Third place. Takoma
Park, Md, the flight attendant
anI former high school athlete
here.
Expert work by a Boiling res
cue squadron, manning crash
boats, and dramatic life-saving
measures by Boiling crash ward
personnel, kept the fatality list
to surprisingly low figure.
CAA said the plane crashed at
$40 pm, after the pilot suddenly
left the radar- directed landing
pattern, swerving abruptly to the
right, and crashing within a few
hundred yards Cf the spot where
an Eastern Airlines DC-4 fell No
vember with a loss of SIS lives.
Control Decisions Checked.
CAA officials, in refuting earlier
reports that the skies over Wash.
ington were filled" with planes
awaiting landing clearance, said
the usual maximum number Of
planes were operating in the two
immediate traffic circles-f1ve in
the outer stack over Clifton. Va.
and three in the inner one ever
Mount Vernon.
In all, the plane was only IS
minutes in the outer stack and
two minutes in the inner. officials
said.
CAA did not have an immediate
count on the number of planes
being held at other feeder points
over Martinsburg. w. Va; Belts
vile and Front Royal.
Officials said they were check
ing to see whether traffic control
men acted correctly in letting the
DC-3 leave Norfolk, and later
Newport News, its final stop before
reaching Washington on a flight
that originated in Memphis at
9:15 am. yesterday.
Capital Airlines said the plane
left Norfolk an hour behind sched-
ule, but got in touch with the
Washington tower only an hour
after it's scheduled landing time
of 7:31 pm. This indicated the
plane was not stacked up" for
Continued on Page AS, Col. -
n - u