Evening star., 1961-05-05


from the sling of the helicoI
yesterday in the Gulf of Me
landing. He died aboard the
carrier Antietam 7l2 hours
after he and Comdr. Malcolm
Ross of Arlington scared to
their record height.
Comdr. Ross was lifted to the
carrier by one of three hover
ing rescue helicopters without
injury. He stood on the deck
awaiting his companions res
cue.
Hours earlier they had been
sharing the drama of the rec
ord flight. 21l2 miles above the
gulf. Shortly before reaching
maximum altitude, Comdr.
Ross. the pilot. had radioed the
carrier that he could see the
Atlantic Ocean on the other
side of Florida.
Cheerful on Flight
Asked on another transmits
sion how things were going, the
34-year old Prather, father Of
two children, replied:
Things are great. Come on
up"
The huge plastic balloon had
been launched from the car
rier's flight deck off the mouth
of the Mississippi River at 9:O8
am. (EDT. 1t reached its
maximum altitude hours and
36 minutes later at a point
about 1876 miles south of Mobile,
Ala.
The carrier followed the bal
loon as it drifted down across
the Gulf on a southeasterly
course. 1t landed on the Gulf at
sos pm. (EDT, having run
into trouble on descent. When
the balloonists had dropped to
an altitude of about 10000 feet
the rate suddenly and alarm
tngly had increased to 1000 feet
a minute, according to informa-
tion relayed to Washington
from the carrier.
Comdr. Prather and Comdr.
Ross jettisoned everything. a
Navy spokesman said, including
their radio and a drag line
which would have been a key
facility in an attempt to land
aboard the carrier. Loss of the
drag line made the planned
landing on the carrier impos-
sible, the Navy said.
Navy officials reported the
gondola landed on the water
almost perfectly" and that the
huge balloon detached itself
as it had been designed to do.
While the gondola floated on
the surface, about ~ miles
from the Antietam, the three
helicopters raced toward the
balloonists.
AS Comdr. Prather was being
hoisted into the helicopter he
fell from the sling. He was en-
numbered with a spaceSuit and
Instrumentation weighing
about Is pounds when dry. On
hitting the water the suit
would have further hindered
efforts to swim.
Goes Under Water
A Navy statement said
Comdr. Prather fell backward
into the water and went under
when the pressurized suit ap-
parently became water-logged.
The accident occurred about
140 miles south-southeast of
Pensacola, Fla.
Comdr. Prather was pulled
back to the still-floating gon-
dola in a few minutes by a
Navy skin diver, who had
dropped from one of the hell
copters. Then Comdr. Prather
was removed to the carrier in a
motorized whaleboat. He was
unconscious when pulled from
the water and apparently never
regained consciousness before
dying aboard the carrier about
an hour and 20 minutes after
being pulled from the water.
An autopsy was begun at the
naval air station at Pensacola,
Fla.
This was the ninth major
high-altitude balloon flight for
Comdr. Ross, Al. who added to
his record of more than 100
hours in the upper atmosphere.
For Comdr. Prather, it was only
his third balloon flight.
The previous record for OPEN
gondola balloon flight was
100000 feet, set by Air Force
Capt. Joseph w. Kittinger, jr.,
in August, 1860.
Comdr. Prather. a native of
Detroit, was commissioned as
a flight surgeon seven years
ago. He was married and had
o daughter, Maria Lee, 6, and
a son Victor III, 8.
The pressurized suits Comdr.
Prather and Comdr. Ross wore
on their flight are similar to
those designed for the Mercury