Evening star., 1951-12-31
Red Press Says u. 5.
Knew Where Flyers
Were During Search
BY tho Associated Pres.

BUDAPEST, Hungary. Dec. 81.
The official Communist press
charged yesterday that the United
States Government knew the
whereabouts of the four American
flyers jailed by Hungary while an
Allied aerial search was made for
their plane last month.
1t also carried on the theme that
the United States is trying to get
spy-saboteurs into Hungary.
A front-page editorial in the
official party newspaper SzabadI
Nep told Hungarians the United
States Government knew the
plane had not crashed but ''ac-
cused us of being inhuman, caus-
ing worry to the relatives Of the
airmen."
1t said the big search that began
after Soviet fighters forced down
the CAT cargo plane November
19 in Hungary was a fake, and
added:
To-day the whole world
knows that the United States Gov
ernment could have consoled the
relatives Immediately, but political
speculations overcame humanity"
Were Released Friday.
The paper said the flyers main
tanned uninterrupted radio con-
tact with their bases until they
landed in Hungary.
eThe flyers. released Friday
on payment of $4,000 by the
United States, lost their way in
bad weather on a fight with
embassy supplies from Erding.
Germany, to Belgrade, Yugo-
slavia. Capt. Dave Henderson
told reporters after his release =
that the plane sent messages |
until the landing but that they
must have been garbled because |
they were not received in |
Frankfurt.D
. One of the last reports from the
plane in flight said it had been
fired on. First reports to reach
the west after the plane disap-
peared were on December 8 from
the Russian news agency Tass,
which said the plane was forced |
down by Soviet fighters In Hun
gary.
Capt. Henderson and the two |
non-commissioned officers of |
the crew are resting at Erding.
The fourth member. Capt. John |
j. Swift, is en- route home to |
visit his father, who is Ill in
Syracuse, N. Y, and his wife /
and children at Glens Falls,
N. Y. He was expected to pass /
through the military air trans
post terminal at Washington |
National Airport on his way to
WeStover Air Force Base, Mass.) !
Sarcastic on Penalties. /
Szabad Nep commented sarcas-
tically on the United States Gov
ernment decisions closing the
Hungarian consulates in New
York and Cleveland and banning
American travel in Hungary.
OF the consulate closings it said |
The Hungarian peoples democ-;
racy win certainly endure this ter
'rible blow" |
a. 1t said the travel ban "does not
frighten our working people too
much. The United States does
not permit honest, peaceful demo-
Gratis to go abroad very often.
Those American guests, apart from
members Of the diplomatic corps,
who still visit Hungary, slip
through the frontier usually by
night. supplied with submachine-
guns. hand grenades and false
papers. Such guests. however. are
patronized by the (Hungarian) |
state security Office sooner or
later" |,
The editorial insisted the mill
tary court verdict convicting the
fiiers of deliberately violating
Hungarian borders and setting
fines of $4,000 each, with the
alternative of three months in
Jail, was "just and correct"
It contended this was SO because
the f1iers accepted the verdict
with no alternative), the United
States Government paid the fines,
and Washington does not men
ton the case Of the conf1scatedI /
plane any more" washington /
dispatches indicated the United
States would again demand return
of the plane. valued at $97 ,500.) /