Evening star., 1949-11-09
Crash
CONTINUED From First Page.)

port permit for the P-38 from the
State Department and said he was
prepared to accept delivery on it
in behalf of his government once
Capt. Rios had successfully tested
it and was satisfied with its per-
formance.
Mai. Pol, the third witness at
the hearing, gave an eyewitness
account of the collision which
cut the airliner in half just south
OF National Airport.
Rios Statement to Be Read.
He said he was riding in q sta
ton wagon whose driver was at
tempting to tune its radio into
the traffic control tower at the
airport. But he said he heard
none of the conversations between
the tower and the fighter until
the tower announced the alarm
after the accident.
The 41-page question and an
swer statement obtained from
Capt. Rios was expected to be
read into the record today.
The findings of the flve-man
panel probably will hinge on what
was said to Capt. Rios from the
airport control tower, what he
heard and how he responded. ;.
Although the visibility was good
at the time, the two planes ap-
preached the same runway on q
collision course although the air
liner had been cleared to land and
the Bolivian repeatedly had been
ordered to pull out the way, tower
operators say. - - :" =
Maj. Pol said he went to the
airport with Paul Auhin. president
of the surplus disposal firm.
''Mr. Aubin informed me that
the plane having been delivered to
us at National Airport meant that
the contract had been fully per-
formed" Maj. Pol testified. "but I
explained to him that before the
plane could be accepted, we would
have to make a test flight as the
contract stipulated.
Insisted on Test Flight.
"Mr. Aubin agreed that a test
flight could be made provided we
would be responsible.
The Bolivian spokesman said he
repeated at the time that his gov
ernment would not take owner
ship before satisfactory test
flight.
About October 10, Maj. Pol said,
he and Capt. Rios gave the plane
a ground test, running up the en-
gines and trying to get the tower
on the radio. The battery was
low, the witness said, and Capt.
Rios was able to hear the tower,
but could not make himself heard.
The witness said also that the
throttles were not in alignment to
produce the same revolutions per
minute by each Of the two engines.
Two days later, Maj. Pol said.
Mr.. Aubin called to say the fighter
had been repaired and Capt. Rios
made a second call at the airfield
around October 81.
AT that time he found that the
radio still was defective and dis
covered leak in the hydraulic
system.
I'VE left the plane again to be
fixed and the next day MIR. Aubin
called me to let me know that a
new radio was installed and the
leak had been fixed" Mai. Pol
said.
Bad Brakes Reported.
The third time the Bolivian
tried to test the fighter, it was
stated, he started the engines and
was preparing to take of when he
noticed the brakes were not regu-
lated and that the left engine was
spilling oil over the tires.
The witness said they again
asked Mr.. Aubin to complete the
repairs.
On November /. the date Of the
mid-air collision. the Bolivians
again went to National Airport
and Capt. Rios apparently was
satisfied with his ground checks,
Maj. Pol said. He said Capt. Rios
took of smoothly. Mr.. Aubin was