Evening star., 1954-12-19
3 Known Dead,
1S Missing in
AirIiner Crash
Six Survive Plunge
Of Italian Plune
At IdIewiId Field

NEW YOHh, Lee. ia dig
italian Airlines plane rammed
into a pier and burst into flames
at Idlewild Airport today after
making four desperate attempts
to land in mist and rain.
Twenty-six of the 80 persons
aboard were feared lost.
There were only six known
survivors, four of them Ameri-
cans.
Hours after the crash, which
occurred at 2 pm, only eight
bodies had been recovered.
Rescue crews grappled through
the fog and darkness for 18
others.
Most of the passengers on the
DC-6B, one of the largest planes
in civilian aviation service. were
Italians or persons of Italian
descent.
Crashed Into Pier.
The four-engined ship, carry
ing % passengers and a crew of
10, crashed into the end of the
2,OO0-foot pier, sheared off a
section of the plane and then
slammed broadside into the
structure.
The pier juts out into the
water with lights to guide air.
craft onto runways on the field,
one of the largest in the world.
Idlewild Airport is located on
Long Island, about 13 miles from
midtown New York. Jamaica
Bay, an arm of the Atlantic
Ocean, borders the field.
The plane disembarked nine
passengers at Boston at 10 am.
It reached Idlewild shortly
after noon and lowered about in
the rain and overcast, attempt
ing to land.
Missed 3 Approaches.
The pilot missed three ap-
proaches. On the third he was
cautioned by radar that he was
below the proper glide path.
The Civil Aeronautics Division
at Idlewild said:
"Radar again advised the pilot
of his position below the glide
path and advised him to pull up
and execute a missed approach
procedure unless he had the
runway in sight.
"The aircraft was observed to
increase altitude, then dive into
the approach light pier in ia
maica Bay"
One of the Americans who
survived the crash. Hector Gian-
carlo, %, of Bloomfield. N. j.,
climbed out of a broken section
of the planes tail and pulled
himself to safety on the pier.
Visibility Low.
1.-The steward said there was
low visibility" he said, They
made three attempts to land
and we could see the runs each
time. We saw landing lights on
the runs.
"On the fourth attempt we
were coming down. We were
close to the ground. I saw water
marshes. The pilot appeared to
raise the plane. I heard a solid
thud. Everything spun around
The next thing we settled slowly
Water started to rush in"
Mr.. Giancarlo said he told his
seatmate, George Varilli, "let's
get the hell out" after they found
their section was sheared of
from the rest of the plane.
Mr.. Varilli, a fifth year medi-
cal student at the University OF
Padua. Italy, lives at Mamaro-
neck, N. Y. He climbed out with
Mr.. Giancarlo and reached
safety on the pier, Neither was
injured.
Other Survivors.
The other survivors were
Frank A. Messina, 40, of Mt
Vernon, N. Y: Giuseppi Palmieri,
64, of New York City; Vincenzc
Berlingeri, 81, of Genoa, Italy
and Mohamad Banki, q, OF
/ Teheran.
| Mr.. Messina was, critically In
jured. Mr.. Palmieri's condition
! was reported poor. Both Mr.. Ber-
! lingeri and Mr.. Banki were ir
good condition.
| The ship was a mass of flames
minutes after the crash. Foe
settled in before nightfall, add
ing to the confusion.
Five helicopters Joined the
(See PLANE, Page AID