Evening star., 1953-09-07
20 Hurt as 81 Escape
Death in AirIiner
Crash and Fire
BY the Asseeiatsd Press

McCHORD AIR FORCE |
BASE. Wash. Sept. IA North |
west Airlines Constellatin, wal
lowing almost helplessly through |
foggy skies, crash landed and
burned here early yesterday. The
80 persons aboard escaped death. |
Twenty-nine of the 32-they |
included 26 passengers, three of |
them infants. and six crew men,
bers-were injured or burned
when the plane burst into flame
as its pilot, Capt. Russell Bird
of Seattle. attempted to land
with only one wheel down and
two engines dead.
Only nine of those injured re-
manned in hospitals today and
physicians said none was in
serious condition.
The No. 3 engine of the huge
Lockheed aircraft failed as the
plane roared into the sky from
Seattle Tacoma international
airport at 2:06 am. Because of
fog conditions. Capt. Bird de-
cided to take the craft, scheduled
for a nonstop fight to Chicago,
into Portland.
Crash Crews Stand BY.
He was forced into the landing |
here when the No. 4 engine |
failed.
Capt. Bird radioed the Nc
Chord control tower that he was
going to attempt an emergency |
landing and Air Force crash |
crews at this base just south of |
Tacoma were ordered to stand by |
On the approach to McChord, |
Capt. Bird found when lowering |
his wheels that only one would |
come down because of a failure
of the crafts hydraulic system.
Rather than chance staying alott
with only two engines, Capt Bird
brought the plane cnto the run
way.
1t rolled easily along on the
one wheel until its speed slack
ened. Then the left wing tilted
to the ground and gas in the
wing tanks burst into fire, send
ing flames shooting l5 feet.
Crew Helps Passengers.
The plane swerved from the
runway and ground slowly to a
stop. Crew members worked
frantically to loosen safety belts
and help the passengers climb
to safety through a sheet of
flame that had engulfed the ship.
Capt. Bird and Patricia Griv-
ma, McKeesport, Pa, the stew
ardess, said all of the passengers
were out of the plane and safe
within one minute after the
plane had stopped rolling.
The co-pilot, Dale Moore of
Seattle, was credited with saw
ing 8-month-old Kimberly Frank
of Terre Haute, Ind, from death
in the flames.
II struggled with the safety
belt for so long 1 thought I
would never get out" Mrs. Carl
Frank, the child's mother, said.
Then when I jumped I dropped
the baby. When / struck the
ground I went down on one knee
and she fell out. The co-pilot
picked her up. There were
flames on the ground all around
U.s."
Armour Couple Aboard.
Among those aboard the craft
were Mr.. and Mrs. Lester Arm
our of the Armour packing fam
lily of Chicago. Both escaped
injury.
The plane was the same one
which brought Mrs. John Eisen-
hover, President EisenhoWer's
daughter-in-law, to Seattle less
than two hours before to meet
her husband, Maj. John Eisen-
hover, who had returned Satur-
day on rotation from Korea.
The plane was owned by East
ern Air Lines and was being OPP
Grated under a lease contract
by Northwest.
A delegation of company Off
cials, headed by Gen. Harold r.
Harris, president and general
manager Of the line, arrived
here last night to join the Civil
Aeronautics Administration in
an Investigation Of the accident |