The Daily Alaska empire., 1949-11-17
TWO B.295
 COLLIDE, 5
 MILES UP
Four of Twenfy-one Crew. men Escape With Lives
 by Pdrdehuting

olOChlON, Call1., NOV l7-At Two B-29s carrying 2l crewmen collided five miles above Stockton at midnight and crashed with earthshaking impact in nearby fog shrouded delta country.
 Only four men are known to have survived the collision over this central California city 75 miles east of San Francisco. They spilled out of the planes in para chutes,
 Three of them came out of one Superfort which plunged down in flames on Mcdonald Island leyee on the San Joaquin river nine miles west of Stockton. The other four engine bomber ploughed six feet into a mud two miles north and across the river. It barely missed ranch bunkhouse with 30 laborers as it crashed with the high tail section sheared off.
 FOUR SURVIVORS
 The four survivors-all at the Navy annex of the Stockton Supply Depot after treatment for minor injurieS--were:
 Ut. Warren F. Shamrock, whose home, ironically, is only 26 miles east of Stockton in the Sierra foot hills.
 Pvt. Keith R. Burns, 19. Boise, Ida, apparently the only survivor of the burning plane. T-Sgt Prank D. Schmidt, Meg ley, Ohio, engineer on the plane. whose wife and daughter live in Spokane
 Sgt Rofert s, Kluge, 26. Spokane.
 BODIES RECOVERED
 The sheriif's office field rarty radioed three bodies had been taken from the plane that burned on Mcdonald Island levee on the San Joaquin river in the delta nine miles west of here.
 State Highway Patrolman Bill Alott said four bodies were taken from the plane that crashed six feet deep into the mud on a tract two miles north and across the San Joaquin.
 The wings of this plane were in- tact, but the tail assembly had collapsed.
 HIGH FUMES
 A radio from the field party a, this plane ordered all spectators cleared from the area because of high octane gasoline fumes.
 Hamilton Field, 25 miles north of San Francisco, said the plane that burned was from the 328.h Squad ron. The other was from the 325th. Both were part of the 92nd Bom- bardment Group at Spokane, Wash. Air Force Base.
 First definite word of the crash. in fog. came from one of the urvivors, It. Shamrock. The lieu enant staggered into Edward Ken yon's King Island fishing resort bleeding from head injury.
 The other plane ran smack into us" he gasped
 CRASH IS HEARD
 The Kenyons heard the crash. They were out looking for the James in the fog when Shamrock irrived
 Soon afterward the San Joaquin sheriff's office reported finding two enlisted men alive. One was Pvt. Burns. the other T-Sgt. Schmidt.
 Sgt Kluge, of Spokane. said he parachuted from the ship later found stuck in the mud. He too, cached King Island fishing re- sort.
 Highway Patrolmen and sheriff's deputies from four counties circled 'or nearly three hours across the fields and streams of the delta country before they found the wreckage of both planes.
 The still burning craft from the }26th Squadron was sighted first.
 IDENTIFICATION
 The last four of it's serial num- ters- 6364-were the only marks of Identification.
 But from this the Spokane air. base was able to determine it was one of 13 which started out at 3 pm. yesterday on round-robin flight tno landings and return to home base) over Sacramento, San Francisco, Stockton and Salt Lake City.