Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-07-13
Officials Exchange Charges
In Jets Crisis in Landing

NEW YORK, July 10 (AP).
Ignorance and confusion"
ruled at Idlewild Airport while
q crippled Jet airliner with l13
persons aboard circled the field,
the city FIRE commissioner
charges.
Fire Commissioner Edward r.
Cavanagh, jr., said yesterday
that city flremen got little or
no cooperation from Port OF
New York Authority personnel
who run the airport. Instead,
he said, they encountered an
arrogant attitude.
The Pan American World
Anyways plane, which dropped
part Of its landing gear just
after taking off for London,
circled the field for four hours
before making a safe emergency
landing early yesterday.
Charge Holly Denied
Austin ]. Tobin, executive
director of the Port Authority.
responded holly to Mr.. Cavan-
agh's criticism. He said the
Gre commissioner had made an
attempt ito besmirch mag
nificent feat"
Mr.. Tobin said:
"Our men, in the face Of
grave danger, do an almost i'm
possible job to prevent the
loss of life and property and
the record shows the results
through the years have been
extraordinary"
The rescue efforts were Sc
verely hampered by thrill seek
ers who thronged to the airport.
They went to the field by car
and on foot. Some tramped
across the meadows. Some went
across Jamaica Bay by boat.
Airport authorities said there
were $4,000 of them, knocking
over barriers, spilling onto the
field, tanning roads so fire
equipment couldn't get through.
Meanwhile. the pilot circled,
q mile UP in the night sky.
waiting to make an emergency
landing. He worried about the
more than 100 tons Of airplane,
with a landing speed Of $50
miles an hour, crunching down
on the broken landing gear.
He was afraid the plane
might slew of the runway, or
catch fire as the broken gear
struck sparks from the concrete.
He circled to burn up fuel
leSsening the fire danger-and |
to give firemen time to spread |
anti fire foam over the runway.
He didn't know it at the |
time, but q greater danger |
awaited him on the ground. |
At least 1000 persons lined the |
runway.
Officials said that the 200
airport and city police on hand
were helpless. 1T would have
taken 10000 policemen to keep
the field clear" an airport au-
thority said later. At one point
hoses were turned on the
crowd, and they were sprayed
with foam. /
Scaled Roman Holiday"
Traffic backed up bumper to
bumper. All roads leading to
the airport were tied up. The
jams stretched for miles.
People decided to make q
Roman holiday out of it," said
James B. Leggett, chief of city
detectives.
City firemen, with 40 pieces
of apparatus, finally reached
the scene, but were delayed
half an hour getting out on
the field.
When Capt. Edward SOM
mers finally brought the big Jet |
lower and approached the run
way, he saw the crowds and |
delayed landing. Later he was
bitter, saying they were the |
biggest menace" of the ordeal. !
He said rescue equipment |
couldn't have reached the plane
in time, and that there was
danger that the big ship would |
go OF the runway and kill |
hundreds of the spectators.
AS 1t was, he brought it in |
in a shower Of sparks, as he |
had expected. and had to fight |
the controls to keep the ship
from Slowing on the runway.
The plane was braked to q
halt 200 feet before reaching
the section of the landing strip
that had been coated with
foam.
Capt. Sommers, a 44-year-
old grandfather from Brook
side, N. j.. is a veteran of 20
years with Pan American. He
was notified Immediately after
takeoff that part of the land
ing gear had dropped off.
A broken metal shaft caused
the front pair of wheels in the |
planes left wheel assembly to
drop of, and the rear pair had
to bear the shock of landing. |
Authorities are investigating to
determine if the break was the
result of a manufacturing flaw,
or developed later and was not
discovered during regular in
spections of the aircraft.
HNys fhA mo Naoeaa,a nvn~r