Evening star., 1950-11-17
By the Assoeiated Press

ploded.
Some of the crew members
jumped and may have reached the
ground safely. but were apparently
caught in deluge of flaming gas
oline that sprayed over the area
One Body Crushed.
The body of one airman was
unmarked on the upper part, while
the lower portion had been
crushed by heavy piece of debris
The Air Force listed some of the
13 men as missing, since identif1-
cations had not been completed,
but they were presumed dead.
Robert Moore, a reporter for
the Tucson Arizona Daily Star,
who flew to the scene, reported
there were indications all of the
airmen attempted to get out of
the flaming craft.
Their blackened and smashed
bodies, most of them wearing por-
tions of parachutes, were scat
tered over an area a half mile
around the crash scene. Bits of
flaming debris were found as far
away as mile.
An air rescue team rushed to
the scene found some Of the dazed
survivors standing in two groups
Five OF them were a short dis
tance west of the fallen planes.
Two others east. The remainder
were scattered.
All were rushed to the base hos
pital at Davis Monthan Field.
Eight suffered only minor
scratches and could walk. Two
had broken ankles but were other
wise reported all right.
Steven Ramon, Papago Indian
living in Silnakya. witnessed the
crash.
He said he spotted what he
thought was one plane about noon
(MST) yesterday.
Landed Close Together.
There was a FASH" he said.
"The plane started to come down
toward the ground. Then I saw
that there were two planes. They
landed very close together, about
10 miles away from me-"
Mr.. Moore, former Air Force
captain. said three engines from
the planes were either demolished
or consumed by the heat as he
could locate only five. He described
the crash scene as follows:
I'm the center of the crash area
were two holes In the ground, one
about 8 feet deep and one S feet
deep. They were about 100 feet
apart.
I'm the main crash area a piece
Of fuselage stuck out of the
ground like a monument. Around
1t were five bodies.
Caught by Gasoline.
Evidently some Of the men es-
capped from their plane only to be
caught in deluge of flaming gas
oline. Some of the shroud lines
OF the parachutes were completely
burned away. Some of the chutes
were also burned"
Davis-Monthan officials report
ed 1t was the first fatal accident
during a refueling operation suf-
fered by any of their planes.
They were unable to give any
details on what caused the crash.
Search planes located the
wreckage within a few hours after
the first alarm was turned in by
the Civil Aeronautics Administra-
ton tower at the Tucson Munich
pal Airport. It reported a column
of smoke.
Ground parties had great diff
Guilty reaching the crash scene
over the rugged desert terrain.
Five More Identified.
The Air Force today identified
five more victims of the crash.
They are:
Dead-1st 1t. Granville w
Goodman, navigator aboard the
B-50. Charlottesville, Mo.
Missing from the 307th Air Re.
fueling Squadron:
S/Sergt. J. Mallon, gunner, Bal
timore.
S/Sergt. Purcell Mcclure, gun
ner. Route l. Vincennes, Ind.
Corpl. Rudolph j. Vandereyk
gunner. st. Cloud. MINI.
Missing from the 63d Bomt
Squadron: Corpl. Nicholas P. AL.
exander. scanner, San Antonio
Tex.
Other Casualties.
Last night the Davis -Monthar
Base issued the following casualty
list:
Dead: S/Sergt. Billy S. Chris.
tian, Little Rock, Ark, 63d Bomt
Squadron.
Missing from the SD Bomt
Squadron: S/Sergt. Harold v
Shulze, gunner, Norton, Kans.;
Sergt. Fred T. Gomez, gunner, Lo!
Angeles.
Missing from the 307th Air Re.
fueling Squadron:
S/Sergt. Franklin E. Spicer, ra.
dio operator, Cumberland, Md.
S/Sergt. Melvin DeVinney Scan.
ner, Missouri Valley, Iowa.
T/Sergt. John Kudlak, passen'
ger, Cambridge, Mass.
S/Sergt. Warren F. Fohl, pas.
senger, Euclid, Ohio.
1st 1t. George DeLorme, navi
gator, Portland, Me.
Two Of the survivors were crew