Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-08-07
PLANE
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everyone out after the plane
came to a stop.
THE stewardess said, Thank
you for waiting!' We all
thought that was rather funny
at the time.
I'VE got soaking wet when we
climbed out of the plane. But
it was quiet and nobody pan
licked. The only noise was really
me shouting my wife's name
until I knew she was all right.
Later, we were all sitting in
the airport drinking coffee and
an American Airlines man was
struck by lightning while he
was working on a plane. Mr..
Afford was the first one to get
to him and give him first aid"
Mr.. Afford, who is an eye
surgeon, called his wife in Little
Rock right after the accident
to assure her that he was all
right. He told his office in
Washington that he was con-
cerned that his wife and three
children might hear about the
incident on the radio before he
had an opportunity to notify
them that he was safe. .
The Congressman lives at the
Congressional Hotel here and
commutes to Arkansas each
week end, his office said.
Raining Hard
Mr.. Afford said it was raining
hard when the DallaS-to-New
York plane came in for a land
ing at Knoxville.
1--WE had the runway in sight
when it happened" he said.
1--WE were taking a terrific
beating as we approached the
field" Mr.. Afford said. 81 per-
sonally felt we were going to
crash. I don't know how the
pilot did as well as he did"
Alan Atkin, airport manager,
told the Associated Press the
separation of the wing and
fuselage probably saved the
lives of the IS passengers and
five crewmen.
IF the wing had not torn
off, the plane would have
burned with the passengers
aboard" Mr.. Atkin said.
Mrs. Mary Silberg of 4700
Connecticut avenue NV, Sec
Rotary to Chief Judge Norman
o. Tietjens Of the United States
Tax Court, was sitting about
four seats behind the right wing
which was sheared off.
II saw a big flash of fire on
the wing and told the passen-
ger next to me that we were
making a very rough landing"
she said. Then I saw a ball
of fire rolling down the field"
Jack Paul Lewis of 1000 Ca
thedral avenue NV, an in
dustrial consultant, was return
ing home after a business trip
to Memphis. His wife said he,
too, escaped injury.
The passengers hailed stew
ardess Nancy Root, % of Dali
las, Tex, as a heroine.
Miss Root hurled her 100
pound body against an emer-
gency door repeatedly until it
opened. allowing passengers to
escape.
Wind gusts up to 40 miles
per hour swept the airport.
Captain Vic James of Fort
Worth. Tex, the pilot, said a
wind gust blew the airliner off
to the right Of the runway,
causing the right landing gear
to collapse.
He said the plane then
skidded in an arc and the right
wing ripped off and caught
fire. Airport firemen quickly
extinguished the blaze.
/ This was Capt. James first
crackup in % years of flying.
Two passengers remained be-
hind for emergency treatment
at hospital. Mrs. Rachel Dix,
40, of Westbury, Long Island,
N. Y, suffered a broken foot.
Her 15-year-old daughter, Lee,
suffered a minor injury to her
right knee.
The Civil Aeronautics Board
sent investigators to conduct an
Inquiry into the crash-the
eighth involving an Electra
since 1859 and the second in