Evening star., 1951-12-03
ii. ). Will Try
|ToForce Reds 10
'Re|easeF|yers
Immediate Action on
Airmen Downed in
Hungary Promised
By the Associated Press


The State Department said to-
day the United States will take
immediate action to free the
four-man crew and United States
Air Force plane reported forced
down in Communist Hungary.
The department at the same
time rejected a Moscow charge
that the plane was carrying equip
ment to help anti-Communist
"spies and saboteurs" behind the
Iron Curtain.
The blankets, parachutes, maps
and portable radio on the plane
were described as standard emer-
Igency equipment.
Red Planes Force Landing.
The CAT cargo plane with its
crew of four disappeared Novem-
ber 19 on a flight from Munich
to Belgrade, Yugoslavia. A Tass
Agency dispatch said yesterday
Soviet fighter planes forced the
United States craft to land at q
Hungarian air field several days
ago.
Officials here assumed this was
true, as a long search in Yugo-
slavia had failed to disclose any
trace of the plane. However, the
State Department said today il
is still without any confirmation
from the Hungarian government
although repeated requests for in.
formation have been made tt
Hungary by George Abbott, the
American charge de affaires il
Budapest.
The American demand for re.
lease Of the crew and plane pre-.
sumably will go to Hungary, al.
though officials left open whether
there might be a protest to Mos.
cow also. The first information
came through Russia's Tass news
agency and the Moscow radio.
Action Held Limited.
The immediate action" by the
United States presumably would
be limited to demands for release
of the crew and plane. The dis
lpute over the imprisonment OF
American businessman Robert A
Vogeler demonstrated that the
United States is limited in the
pressure it can bring against
Hungary and the other Soviet
bloc countries.
The latest episode straining
relations between the United
States and the Soviet bloc gave
Hungary a weapon in it's current
dispute with the United States
over concessions this Government
agreed to when Mr.. Vogeler was
freed.
Diplomats said it is anybody's
guess whether Hungary will use
the crew and the plane for ran
som or trading purposes. The
Hungarians, in a note last month
which the State Department has
not yet answered. charged the
United States has failed to re-
turn certain Hungarian goods
from occupied Germany.
Reds Describe Equipment.
The State Department an
nouncement was given reporters
by Press Officer Lincoln White,
who noted the Moscow announce
ment made great play that the
plane had aboard blankets, port
able radio and maps"
Each American Air Force plane
particularly of the CAT type
carries standard emergency equip.
ment, sometimes known as sur.
vivor equipment" Mr.. White said
Among such equipment are blan.
kets for the maximum number o1
people the plane is capable of car.
rying, parachutes for the same
purpose and portable radio set a.
a normal precaution that If thu
plane crashes or the crew has tt
bail out there will be means tt
send an SOS and report the posi-.
tion."
Mr.. White said the presence o.
maps aboard was explained by tn.
same precaution. He said plane!
normally carry maps of many
| (See PLANE, Page A-6.)