Orinda, CA Army Trnasport Plane Crash, Oct 1960

2 GENERALS, FOUR OTHERS DIE IN CRASH.

Oakland, Calif. (AP) -- Two Army generals and four other persons died Friday in the flaming crash of a small Army transport plane in a foggy residential area near here.
The high ranking officers were:
Maj. Gen. CARL F. FRITZSCHE, 57, of Bedford, Ohio, commanding general of the huge Army training center at Fort Ord, Calif., and Brig. Gen. THOMAS H. HAYES, 49, of Macon, Ga., FRITZCHE'S deputy commander.
The single-engine Otter hit the side of a hill just 200 yards from a house in the suburb of Orinda, 20 miles east of here.
MRS. JOHN BARRON and her two children were in the home.
"I was feeding the children when I heard a roar. It sounded directly over the house," she said.
"Then I heard a choke -- like an engine dying. Then came the sound of a crash. I looked out but couldn't see anything at first because of the fog. Then I began to see blue-orange flames."
Smashing against the hill at an altitude of 1,300 feet, the plane hit an East Bay municipal utilities district water tank and broke into pieces.
Most of the plane rolled 75 yards up the hill, burst into flames and touched off a brush fire which soon circled the aircraft.
It took firemen a half hour to put out the three-acre blaze and reach the victims.
Others killed were:
Lt. ROBERT L. FISHER, 27, Savannah, Ga., aide to HAYES.
Chief Warrant Officer RICHARD K. BROWN, 38, Seattle, Wash.
Chief Warrant Officer KENNETH KIESTER, 38, Henningford, Neb.
Specialist 5.C DONALD E. PETERMAN, 25, North Hollywood, Calif.
BROWN and KIESTER were listed as copilots. The Army said it didn't know which one ws at the controls.
The craft, flying from Fort Ord to Crissy Field at San Francisco's Presido, was carrying FRITZSCHE to 6th Army headquarters for a briefing ceremony today with Countney Johnson, assistant secretary of the Army.
HAYES was to escort a group of prominent civilians to an orientation conference at Fort Benning, Ga.

Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune Wisconsin 1960-10-01
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!