Evening star., 1961-09-18
81 Are Killed as Electra Crashes
Shortly After Tokeoff in Chicago

CHICAGO, Sept. 18 (AP).-
A Northwest AirlineS Electra
carrying 81 persons on a Flori-
da-bound flight crashed short
ly after takeoff from O'Hare
international airport yesterday,
killing all aboard.
The plane, radioing mo con-
troll" as it's final word to the
airport control tower, plunged
from a low altitude into a field
at the southwest edge of the
airport.
Among the 80 passengers
we're a mother and her four
children. In addition, five crew
members died in the fiery crash.
The Electra crash was the
second major air disaster In the
Chicago area this month. On
September /, a Trans World
Airlines Constellation crashed
near suburban Clarendon Hills
minutes after its departure
from Midway airport. Seventy
eight persons died in that ac-
cident.
Message Garbled
The final words from the
plane-"no control'-as it spun
to earth from a height esti-
mated variously at 200 to 300
feet were recorded at the
O'Hare control tower. Other
words from the pilot or CO.
pilot of the doomed plane were
lost in an overlay from an
other pilot calling the control
tower.
Federal investigators said the
two words indicated the pilot
had lost control of the big air.
craft. They said the tape
recording could be of consider
able use in solving the cause
of the accident.
Attempts will be made to
separate messages on the
recording.
I'VE are going to have the
tape examined by the finest
analysts in the country" said
Najeeb Halaby, Federal Avia-
ton Agency administrator, who
flew from Washington to di-
rect the investigation.
Allan S. Boyd, chairman OF
the Civil Aeronautics Board,
said that so far as we know,
there were no malfunctions" in
the Electra before it crashed.
Mr.. Halaby said: There is no
reason to believe there was any
explosion within the aircraft
that would be the result Of a
bomb or sabotage" ,
Began in Milwaukee
The Northwest Airlines flight
originated in Milwaukee. 1t
was bound for Tampa, Fort
Lauderdale and Miami, Fla,
with a stop at Chicago.
At Chicago, the plane,
Northwest's Flight 706. took on
"a passengers. Eight had
boarded the plane in Mil
waukee.
The big ship took off in per-
feet weather. A minute later
it had crashed. disintegrated
and burned.
Alfred M. Coutu. IS. a dis
abled Korean war veteran and
factory worker from Wauke-
gan, H., saw the tragic crash
which killed his wife and four
children.
Mr.. Coutu escorted his wife
Joyce, 20, and their children,
three boys and a girl. all under
five. aboard the plane for
flight to Tampa to visit Mrs.
Coutu's parents. Mr.. Coutu
then went to the observation
deck to watch the takeoff.
From there he witnessed the
crash.
Federal aviation officials
after a cursory examination of
wreckage and witnesses ac-
counts said the plane probably
did not crash because of engine
failure, an obvious structural
fault or sabotage. I
The said the wreckage would
be reassembled as much as pos
sible for analysis in an effort
to determine the cause of the
crash. .'
The weather was warm and
sunny as the four-engine air
liner took off from the big air. !
field northwest of downtown
Chicago.
Witnesses said the prophet
Electra reached an altitude of
several hundred feet, then fall
tered and appeared to lose pow
er. Its right wing dipped almost
vertically as it made a right
turn, plunging toward the /,
ground. The, wing cut through
high tension wires and hit a
35-foot high railroad embank-
ment. The plane then bounced
into the air, then crashed into
a pumpkin field just west of
the airport.
Witnesses said the plane ex-
ploded, spewing bodies and
plane parts along an 800-foot
swath it cut through the field.
Nolan Miller, 33, a construc-
tion worker at the airport, gave
this eyewitness account:
Il saw the right wing hit
a high tension line just out
side the airport boundary and
the whole body of it lit up