The Daily Alaska empire., 1951-08-24
50 Killed When Unified Air Line DC-6 Crashes Near Oakland Field
By JERRY T. BAULCu

OAKLAND. Calif., Aug. 24-9R- Fifty persons died on the crest of low hill near here today as million dollar air liner crashed and disinte- grated. There were no survivors.
 Hours later broken bodies were being taken from the shattered wreckage of the United Air Lines plane. At the top of the hill there lay the body of little tow-headed boy. His skull was crushed. Others lay in the tangled debris in a ravine.
 The plane, DC-6-Bs was flying non- stop from Chicago te Oakland. The flight originated in Boston last night, and the four -engincd ship had stopped at Hartford and Cleveland, in addition to Chicago.
 Tn Chicago. United Air Lines said the list of A passengers was sketchy, with some names incomplete. and few home towns listed.
 Five Minutes Only five minutes before the plane was to have landed at Oak land airport, 1t crashed inexplicably into low hill 1is miles east of Decoto, a farming community about ten miles southeast of Oakland.
 Three minutes before the crash. Pilot Marion w. Hedden of Los Altos, Calif.. had given the control tower routine report.
 Then residents of the area were startled by flaming flash and the rumble of blast. The six crew members and the passengers died when the huge liner pI0wed into the hill. The shattered debris rained down for 200 yards as the plane slid into the sharp ribbed ravine at the base of the knoll.
 The DC-6-B type plane has been | in United Air Line service since Aug. l. It's use has been the sourse of controversy between the Air Lines Pilots Association and the various air lines.
 Cause of Strike
 Last June the pilots struck United 1 for ten days, demanding that their mileage pay be geared to the hand ling of the faster and larger plane.
 There was no road to the tragic scene. Ambulances and other res- cue cars slipped and slid over the smooth dry grass as they tried to make their way up the slopes and through the many small ravines. About two acres of grass and scrub brush burned as the fire and blast shook the giant liner into a thousand pieces.
 Baggage. personal effects, letters. clothing and bodies were strewn over the area, but most was found in the ravine at the foot of the hill.
 Engines Scattered
 Pieces of the four engines were scattered over the grass and brush patches. It was just burned hill side of debris.
 Three hours after the crash thir- teen bodies had been recovered and placed in ambulances.
 Joe F. Angel, who operates motor tow services in nearby Hayward. said he saw the fire and started toward it. He said he heard sec ond explosion about 25 minutes after the crash.
 The Weather Bureau said vis- ibility was about six miles, and the cloud ceiling was between 1,1OO and 1,50O feet at the hour of the crash.
 Photographer Paul Strong of the Associated Press San Francisco Bu- reau flew over the scene short time after the crash and said heavy fog had settled over the hilltop. His pilot said he had never seen such demolition in a crashed airplane.
 In addition to Captain Hedden, the crew members-all Californians = were First Officer George A. Jewett of Redwood City. who made 30 missions in World War II as pilot of B-24s: Flight Engineer Mario A. Durante of Sausalito; Arthur w. Kessler. AZ. of Redwood City. veteran of 20 years with UAL, who was on the trip as flight ob- server after vacation trip to Chi cago, and Stewardesses Marilyn Murphy of San Mateo and Le Verne Sholes of Palo Alto.