14 MATEANS DIE IN CRASH.

7 IN TWO MENLO FAMILIES PERISH IN DAWN ACCIDENT.

50 MEET DEATH AS PLANE FALLS BEHIND OAKLAND.

Two Babies, Two Belmont Boys Counted Among Victims.

Sixteen Peninsulans, including fourteen San Mateo county residents, two of them infants in arms, were amont the 50 who perished in the crash of a United Air Lines DC-6-B passenger plane after dawn today near Decoto in Southern Alameda county.
Two Menlo Park families, those of mechanics employed by the airline, virtually were wiped out in the tragedy.
A Menlo mother and her three children died when the huge plane smashed in a canyon five miles east of the Decoto Masonic home and disintergrated in a sheet of flame. A second Menlo mother and her two youngsters were killed.
Brothers Die.
Two Belmont brothers, 18 and 10 years old, were among the victims.
Three of the crew of six who died with the 44 passengers lived in this county. Two others of the crew were from Palo Alto and Los Altos.
Before noon, the passenger list of the ill-fated airliner was fixed at 44, when it was ascertained that two Menlo Park infants were aboard.
The San Mateo county crew members who perished were First Officer GEORGE A. JEWETT, about 35, of 951 Johnson street, Redwood City, a veteran of 30 air force missions in World War II; Stewardess MARILYNN MURPHY, in her twenties, of 11 North Quebec street, San Mateo and A. W. KESSLER, 41, assistant chief flight engineer, of 61 Hay road, Redwood City.
Four In Family Die.
Others of the crew complement who lost their lives were Pilot MARIAN W. HEDDEN, of Alvarado road, Los Altos; Stewardess LAVERNE M. SCHOLES of 238 Byron street, Palo Alto, and MARIO A. DURANTE, of Sausolito, a company flight observer.
Hardest hit by the tragedy, first to involve a DC-6-B, was the family of HAROLD C. WILLAUER, UAL mechanic of 1234 Windemere avenue, Menlo Park.
His wife, MRS. KATHERINE WILLAUER; their daughter, ANNE LEE, 14, and two sons, DENNIS, 3, and LESLIE JAMES, 14 months old, were killed.
MRS. WILLAUER and the children had boarded the Mills field-bound plane at Chicago. The husband and father, sole survivor of the family, left for the crash scene this morning.
Three In Family
The second Menlo Park household decimated by the plane crash was that of HUGO J. HOLMLUND of 1037 Sonoma drive, also a mechanic for UAL. His wife, MRS. PAULINE A HOLMLUND; son, HUGH CHRIS, and infant son, JOHN PAUL, 8 months old, died. MRS. HOLMLUND and her sons likewise boarded the plane at Chicago.
FRED LIEBICH, 18, and his brother, WAYNE, 10, sons of MR. and MRS. GEORGE LIEBICH of 1608 Francis avenue, Belmont, lost their lives when the craft plunged to its destruction.
The LIEBICH boys had been visiting relatives in Chicago and they, too, took the plane at the Midwest metropolis. Ironically, his parents had been preparing a surprise party for FRED, the elder, on occasion of his nineteenth birthday, August 28. The father, an engine techinician employed by UAL and MRS. LIEBICH were prostrated by grief upon word their sons had been killed.
Thirteenth and fourteenth San Mateo county victims of the crash were listed by airline officials this afternoon as MRS. IRAL D. ROSE and her daughter, KATHLEEN, 4, of 742 California way, Redwood City. Previously, MRS. ROSE and daughter had been listed as from Chicago. Members of the family were not available at the Redwood City home.
Wife Stricken.
Flight Officer JEWETT'S wife, ELIZABETH, was grief stricken and under care of friends at the family home in Redwood City. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, DAVID, 5, and daughter, KAREN ANN, 18 months old.
The JEWETT family had resided at the county seat since 1927. The flight officer had been flying with UAL for six years. In World War II, he served as a captain in the Third bomber group of the Eighth air force, and flew B-17 bombers on 30 combat missions out of England. He was born in Ames, Iowa, also his wife's birthplace, and had no other relatives in this area.
On Return Leg.
JEWETT left Mills Field on a regularly scheduled flight east on Wednesday night, and was on the return leg when death overtook him, fellow pilots stated.
MISS MURPHY, one of the two stewardesses who perished, had resided for several months with two other airline hostesses, JEANELLE SMITH and GAIL NELSON. Both her companions regarded the attractive MISS MURPHY highly, and were too overcome with grief to make much comment. She was the daughter of a retired army doctor, who, with the mother, make their home at Southgate, Calif.
Much of her flying time was out of Denver, her roommates explanied. They last saw MISS MURPHY two nights ago when she flew east to Chicago. They received word of the crash early this morning, and in the best tradition of the flying service, declared they would "carry on."
KESSLER, the assistant chief flight engineer from Redwood City and with headquarters at Mills field, had been with the air line for 20 years as mechanic and flight engineer.
His wife, MRS. ELIZABETH J. KESSLER, currently is vacationing in Chicago, where UAL informed her of her husband's death.
Grief stricken members of the family at the Bay road home this morning were KESSLER'S stepson, BILL SWANSON, 21, and his son, BOB KESSLER, 18, both employed in Redwood City. Their sister and KESSLER'S daughter, CAROL KESSLER, 18, is a student nurse at Providence College of Nursing in Oakland.
MRS. KESSLER left Redwood City three weeks ago for a vacation with her family in the midwestern city. KESSLER, in addition to his wife and children, is survived by his mother in Michigan. During the last world war he flew for UAL with the army transport command.

Decoto, Calif. Aug. 24 -- (UP) -- A United Airlines DC-6B Mainliner smashed into a hilltop near here early today, careened into a steep canyon and burst into flames, killing all 50 persons aboard.
It was the first time one of the huge four-motored luxury type planes had crashed. The DC-6B was placed in service only this month after settlement of a pilots strike.
Left Yesterday.
The plane left Boston at 6:30 p.m. (EDT) yesterday, stopping at Hartford, Cleveland and Chicago. It was due to make one more stop at Oakland, 20 miles north of Decoto, before ending its flight at Mills field at 6 a.m. (PDT).
The plane missed clearing the top of the hill by only 20 feet. The ceiling was low and visibility was poor.
The force of the impace was so terrific that the plane was torn to bits and fragments of bodies were strewn all over the landscape. There were 44 passengers and six crew members.
Three Babies.
Earlier it had been believed the plane carried only 41 passengers, but several hours after the crash United's headquarters in Chicago increased the number to 44. United said reports from the scene indicated that the three additinal passengers were babes in arms.
Sheriff's deputies and government officials at the scene believed the plane hit the hill, two propeller blades gouging out a deep pit, then careened over the top and fell down the western slope, disintegrating as it went.
Starts Fire.
When it was 400 yards down the slope, it flew off the edge of a brush-choked canyon about 500 feet deep.
The crash caused a small grass fire that silhouetted the plane for eyewitnesses several miles away.
All the bodies were lying in the canyon, with the exception of the body of one small blond child about 4 years old wearing a bright red sweater. The boys head was smashed.
Thirty bodies had been removed by noon today, according to Deputy Coroner CECIL WISEMAN. Two Catholic priests and an Episcopal minister administered final rites at the scene.
Mail was scattered all over the hillside with white envelopes dotting the brush and trees.
The only portion of the plane that was recognizable was the tail section which came to rest about 30 feet from the edge of the canyon.
Trucks Start.
Trucks from the Alameda county coroner's office wound their way up a rutted one-way dirt road to reach the scene. Other trucks with heavy cables were used to lower men into the canyon to remove the bodies.
Sheriff's debuties said it will take "at least several hours" to collect the bodies from the dense tangled undergrowth in the canyon.
United Airlines in San Francisco said the plane was making a routine instrument approach to Oakland airport through a 600 feet cloud layer extending from 2000 feet to 1400 feet. The elevation of the accident scene is approximately 1500 feet.
"At 5:16 a.m. (PDT), the aircraft pilot reported via radio to the Oakland approach control tower for final approach instructions. His last radio report was made at 5:27 a.m. (PDT) over the Newark marker, with the plane apparently in normal descent. The Newark marker is adjacent to the accident scene."
QUAYLE COLLINSON, 30, superintendent of the Pacific Coast Aggregates plant at nearby Centerville, first reported the crash. He was working outdoors with two other men at the time.
"Shortly after 5:15 a.m., we saw a flash of fire on the ridge behind the Masonic home near Decoto about three miles away," he said.
"Then there was a loud explosion. We saw flames shoot high into the air and spread around. Then we saw the plane's tail sticking up."
He said the plane was "definitely off its course."
The crash was the third disaster to a United States airliner in a little more than two months. A United Air Lines DC-6 smashed into a peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, on June 30 killing 50 persons.
A Pan-American World Airways Constellation crashed on the African Gold Coast on June 21, killing 40 persons aboard.
The huge DC-6B, a larger and faster model of the DC-6 was a major issue in the recent strike against United by the AFL Airline Pilots association.
The pilots said the DC-6B's were faster and could go farther than the DC-6's. They wanted a change in their wage base to compensate for carrying bigger pay loads in shorter time.

LIST OF DEAD
Chicago, Aug. 24 -- (AP) -- United Airlines headquarters issued this list of passengers on the plane that crashed near Oakland, Calif., today:
Lt. DOROTHY SUE BALL, route 2, Leicester, N. C.
WILLIAM DEAN BEVERIDGE, age 29, Circle Trailer camp, Eastontown, N. J.
Major BEVERLY L. BRITTON, Falls Church, Va.
MADISON THENTON DAVIS, age 41, Altadena, Calif.
Major THEODORE R. DANIELSON, age 41, 2327 Forty-fourth avenue, San Francisco.
Pfc. ROBERT A. FITZPATRICK, age 19, 23 Foster, Salem, Mass.
MRS. VIOLABELLE DAVIS GOMMEL, age 30, Albany, Calif.
NANCY JEAN GOMMEL, age 5, Albany, Calif.
RICHARD C. GOMMEL, JR., age 8, Albany Calif.
JOSEPH M. GROTA, JR., age 22, Rhode Island.
CLAYTON EDWARD GUNN, age 49, cattle rancher, 645 Webster street, Oakland, Calif.
ANDREW C. COLEGROVE, age 43, New London road, Mystic, Conn.
JAMES LEE HITTSON, 8 Green street, Athens, Tenn.
MRS. PAULINE HOLMLUND, age 24, Menlo Park, Calif.
HUGH K. HOLMLUND, age 3, Menlo Park, Calif.
JOHN PAUL HOLMLUND, 8 months, Menlo Park, Calif.
DEAN JOHNSON, age 57, 2731 S. E. English lane, Portland, Ore.
HAROLD A. (ERNEST) JOHNSON, age 45, 2437 S. W. Arden road, Portland, Ore.
Sgt. CARL R. KEISER, caro of CLARENCE ANGSTADT, 35 North White Oak street, Kutztown, Pa.
FRED LIEBICH, age 18, 1608 Francis street, Belmont, Calif.
WAYNE LIEBICH, age 10, 1608 Francis street, Belmont, Calif.
IRVING F. LYONS, age 58, Oakland, Calif.
JOHN F. LEACH, age 55, Oakland, Calif.
GEORGE McDONALD, 9860 Cook avenue, Oak Lawn, Ill.
MRS. AGNES McDONALD, age 46, 9860 Cook avenue, Oak Lawn, Ill.
1st Lt. WILLIAM BERKLEY NAPTON, age 30, 3641 Los Alamo, Arden Park, North Sascramento, Calif.
ROBERT T. PETRIE, Portland, Ore.
Pvt. RAYMOND E. REX, age 20, Carey, Ohio.
MRS. ELIZABETH ANGELINE ROSE, age 36, Redwood City, Calif.
KATHLEEN ANN ROSE, age 3, Redwood City, Calif.
Electricians Mate REYNOLD L. SCHWARTZ, age 20, Avon, Ohio.
HOWARD LEO STILLEY, age 42, Oakland, Calif.
JOSEPH A. SALDANA, age 22, 160 Reunion street, San Jose, Calif.
JOSEPHINE FLORENCE SENA, age 35, Hartford, Conn.
Hospital Corpsman Third Class JOSEPH L. TOMAN, 263 Cooper street, Youngstown, Ohio.
ERIC VAN PRESTON, age 46, 6060 Southeast Thirty-second avenue, Portland, Ore.
GEORGE H. WEAVER, Bangor, Pa.
MRS. KATHERINE WILLAUER, age 38, Menlo Park, Calif.
DENNIS WILLAUER, age 4, Menlo Park, Calif.
LESLIE WILLAUER, 14 months old, Menlo Park, Calif.
ANN LEE WILLAUER, age 14, Menlo Park, Calif.
2Lt. LAWRENCE A D'ANNA, age 29, Camp Stoneman, Calif.
Pvt. JOHN M. FEJES, age 17, Camp Stoneman, Calif.
Pfc. JAMES ROBBINS, age 22, Conneaut, Ohio.
Crew members listed by United:
Capt. MARION W. HEDDEN, age 42, Los Altos, Calif.
First Officer GEORGE A. JEWETT, age 35, Redwood City, Calif.
Flight Engineer MARIO A. DURANTE, age 36, Sausalito, Calif.
First Stewardess MARILYN M. MURPHY, age 24, San Mateo, Calif.
Second Stewardess MAE LAVERNE SHOLES, age 22, Palo Alto, Calif.
ARTHUR W. KESSLER, age 43, Redwood City, Calif., a flight check engineer.

San Mateo Times California 1951-08-24
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!