Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-07-15

investigation of the first major
Military Air Transport Service.
Forty five persons died and
as the big, four -engined plane +
Friday, 80 seconds after it left
adjacent Mcclure air force base
in thunderstorm.
1t was the first crash costing
passenger lives since the service
was organized eight years ago.
The service annually transports
hundreds of thousands Of mill
tary personnel and dependents
to and from bases in this country
and overseas.
Sergeant Survives
Among the survivors was
Sergt. l c Richard c. Blanchard.
81, whose wife. Lillian. lives at
1912 Aspen street NV. Wash
. ington.
Seret. Blanchard had concus-
sions and fractures of ribs and
nose.
Col Roy A. Wall, 81. of 10000
Ridgemoor drive. Silver Spring,
Md, was among those killed
., Ironically, Col Wall was on
: his way to Europe for the dedi-
sScation of cemeteries and memo
srials to United States war dead
: He was to represent the Army
. at the ceremonies as chief OF
!; the memorial division III the
: Office of the Quartermaster Cen
: eral.
= AS 1t. Gen. Joseph Smith,
/: MATS commanding general,
= flew in from his Maryland head
: quarters to oversee the official
: Investigation, survivors told of
!. violent, churning air currents
:, that gripped the plane.
: 1T happened in an instant, "
/. said I'd 1t. George A. Wiltse of
: Santa Monica. Calf. I'VE seemed
Ito hit a doWndraft."
:. Lightning cracked, and heavy
: clouds, rain and hail darkened
= the late afternoon atmosphere
! as the plane took of. Three
. miles from the runway, 1t hit
( into a remote. sWampy woods at
the edge of the huge Fort Dix
military reservation.
Acceptable Weather Standards
1t. Col. Richard Goss. infor-
nation officer, said. Weather
conditions at the time of the
takeoft were within acceptable
standards for normal proce-
! dure
: Visibility at the air base was
I reported to be a mile, with a
ceiling OF 1000 feet and scat
! tered clouds at 500 feet when
the plane took of for Burton
: wood, England
: The minimum fight require
ments were said to be a 300-foot
ceiling and half-mile visibility.
Everything happen so
quick" said Amman Albert j.
: Buck of Philadelphia, one of the
survivors. we were going along
steady, hit a downdraft and she
dropped.
Boiling air amid thunder
storms often produce strong ver-
s teal wind currents, experienced
; flyers said.
I Either a downdraft or updraft
can cause a plane momentarlly
to lose altitude. Moving out Of
an updraft, plane sinks quickly,
like a man walking off a cliff.
The silver-colored GLIB Lift
master. the military version Of
the DC-6 commercial airliner,
was estimated to be only about
. 500 to 700 feet aloft when the
trouble came.
Military spokesman said sew
eral factors probably prevented
additional deaths. Brush and
( pine trees. some of them 100 feet
tall, served to cushion the impact
. as the plane ripped a 300-yard
sWath in the woods
1t hit, belly down, as in a crash
landing. from the relatively low
altitude. Seats on the plane
! faced toward the rear, a safety
device used for some time in the
service. Most passengers still
had on seat belts. Pvt. Thomas
Kiley. Of Lawrence, Mass, who
stumbled bleeding and dazed
from the wreckage, said he felt
"a tremendous Earring" just be-
fore the plane slammed into the
rain-soaked tree-tops, and broke
apart.
Il saw things flying off to the
side and then tearing and break
: ing he said.
Nirginian Finds Survivor
simultaneously, on dirt road
nearby. Pfc Rudolph A. john
son, %, of Norfolk, Va, was
driving through binding rain,
when he heard a "sputtering
noise and then "a big noise in
the center of the woods.
Going afoot to investigate, he
: said ne found Pvt. Kiley in the
woods staggering around in
. circles" and crying plane crash. "
1t was these two who repeatedly
brought first word Of the acct
dent to authorities
Rescue parties, first using
. hand tools. and then bulldozers