The Daily Alaska empire., 1949-11-01
D(-A HIT BY p-3S;pLANE5
 TAKE PLUNGE
Worst Accident in Domes- iie History : Congress-
 man One of Victims

WASHINGTON. Nov. l--'R--A Bolivian fighter pilot collidcd in the air today with big airliner carrying 55 persons including Congress member and other not ahleSrand plunged Both planes into the Potomac river.
 All were believed killed except tEo Bolivian.
 Based on the tentative death toll of 55, it was the worst domestic commercial aviation disaster in his tory. The top death toli in pre- ,ious commercial air accidents m the US. was 53 in crash near Port Deposit, Md, in May. l94I
 CONGRESSMAN VICTIM
 Among the passengers on the Eastern Air Lines DC-4 airiiner were Rep. George J. Bates, oS' Massachusetts Republican;
 Michael J. Kennedy, 52, of New York, former member of Congress and a former Tammany Hall eadcl.
 Gardner w. Taylor, 60, president of the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of New York
 Also believed among the passen- gers was Helen Hokinson. the car toonist who became noted as DOT trayer of suburban life.
 TWO of the 5l passengers were in- fants. There were also four crew members on the zig passenger snip.
 BOLIVIAN ALIVE
 The only person taken from tEe river and wreckage and still a1ye n late afternoon was Eric Rios Eridoux, 28, the Bolivian. He had broken back and other unue- termined injuries.
 The airliner crashed at the Po- tomae Rivers edge. Bodies of t.- passengers were flung over an area of l50 yards. Many apparently were lost in the river.
 The only hody definitely identi- fled in mid-afternoon was that oi Helen Gilbert, stewardess.
 3c0 FEET IN AIR
 The two planes came together about 300 feet in the air. Airport controls officials said Rios Brfdoux had been instructed by radio to permit the airliner to land first, but that he let down his landing gear and headed in for landing without acknowledging the instruc- tions.
 Officials of the Civil Aeronautics Administration said Bridoux unGer- stood English and was regarded as q good pilot,
 His plane was P-38. Bolivia re- gently contracted to buy it from the United States. Rios Bridoux has Leen testing 1t before taking final delivery.
 PLANE IN PIECES
 If the death toll should eventu- ally prove to be 54 or 55, it would 1e the worst airline disaster in history in the United States. There were 53 killed in crash near Port Deposit, Md, in May, 1947.
 Some witnesses said there was apparently an explosion after the Bolivian plane struck the airlinsr.
 The plane was in pieces when the wreckage came to rest part in the Potomac river and part out.
 Tn the search for bodies. big motorized crane belonging to She Air Force was brought to lift the mangled tall section from the river bank
 The airlincr was a DC-4. Planes of this type can carry 20 or more passengers.
 P-38 SOLD
 Government officials said the Bo- liyian government bought two P-38 planes from the US. about three or four weeks ago for the Bolivian Air Force.
 One was sent to Bolivia. The other has been kept here pending routine clearance.
 The two planes struck while in the air. Those who saw the colli- sion said there was an explosion on the airliner. They said there was undoubtedly heavy loss of life.