Milford chronicle., 1958-04-18
-Four Die As Huge C-I33
Cr0shes Near Ellendale
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lcOntlnueu from page oneD
The Air Force says witnesses"
differ as to whether the plane was
on fire before it hit the ground
Killed in the wreck were Cap
tain Raymond B. Bern, 81, of Long
Beach, s,alif., the pilot; First Lieu
tenant Herbert t. Palish, rs, of
st. Louis, Mo-, the co-pilot; Tech
nical Sergeant Edward L. McKin-
ley, SO, of Meridian, Miss, and
Technical Sergeant Marvin A
Aust, 29, of Hays, Kan, both engi-
neers.
The Air Force said Captain Bern
is survived by his wife, Eloise and
two daughters, Nancy, 8, and Wick
ie, A. Lieutenant Palish is surviv-
ed by his wife, Hilda; Sergeant
Mckinley by his wife, Connie, and
daughter, Faye Carroll, 10, and
Sergeant Aust by his wife, Betty
Lou, daughter, Deborah 10, s, and
son Mark, seven months.
The plane was the first of it's
type to crash. There are seven of
them in existence, all at Dover Air
OTCe Base.
Made by Douglas Aircraft Co.,
the GIBBS turbuprop engines can
lift 40-ton load, twice that of the
widely used Globemaster.
The cause of the accident is not
known. The plane sent no radio
messages before it crashed.
Puzzled by conflicting eyewit-
ness stories about the crash the Air
Force boradcast an appeal for all
witnesses to come to the Dover
base to give their stories.
Some 100 persons responded, the
Air Force said.
An Air Force spokesman said in
complete reports indicate the plane
circled a few times over Glendale
at about 1000 feet then fell and
burst into flames when it hit the
ground.
Some eyewitnesses in the rural
Sussex County section said they
saw flames before the craft fell. y
Others said it's engines roared,
as if the pilot were cunning, them
to gain altitude, then tipped over
and fell on it's back.
Firemen summoned from Ellen
dale and nearby Milton found the
flaming wreckage lying in a swan
py clearing in a wooded area about
half mile east of Route 113.
Chief Curtis w. Ennis, Sr., of
the Ellendale Volunteer Fire Com
pany, said that when he arrived
the plane was upside down, burn
ing fiercely.
Dick Tucker of Ellendale, seeing
the plane falling to the earth,
sounded the fire alarm in Ellen
dale-he is member of the COM
pany. When the company arrived
at the scene with fire-fighting equip
ment and their ambulance, only
two people were on the scene, a
Mr.. Harmon and a Mr.. Millman.
One motor was lying about so
feet from the craft. Both wings
were sheared off. Small bits of
metal were scattered through the
nearby woods.
The blaze was fed by burning
fuel, and it took firemen six hours
to extinguish the flames.
Some 100 firemen were driving
north on Route 113 from southern
Delaware and as far south as Sal
isbury, Md, to attend a training
class at Camden-Wyoming, when
they heard of the crash on their
car radios.
They went to the scene, and
formed lines to comb the woods
in vain for survivors.
Earle F. Worthington, an en-
ployee of the Milford Chronicle, no
titled Managing Editor Robert H.
Yerkes, Sr., who in turn notified
the Associated Press of the crash.
The Gibbs have been arriving at
Dover Air Force Base from the
factory since last August. They
are used to carry freight to Air
Force stations in Europe, the Mid
die East and the Arctic.
The transports normally carry a
crew of six, the Air Force said.
The plane that crashed carried
only four because the flight was
planned to take only about an hour
and a half.
Although the crew had no par
ticular route, base spokesman
said the plane was probably head
ed for the Atlantic Ocean.