Palm Springs, CA Airliner And Bomber Collide, Oct 1942

LUXURY AIRLINER HITS BOMBER IN MID-AIR; 12 DIE.

THREE OTHERS MEET DEATH IN TWO OTHER TRAGIC AIR ACCIDENTS.

Palm Springs, Cal. -- (U.P.) -- The American Air Lines plane which crashed near here Friday evening, killing nine passengers and its crew of three, was in a collision with an army bomber, the Air Lines officials announced yesterday.
The dead included RALPH RAINGER, author of such outstanding polular songs as "June in January," "Moanin' Low," and "Love In Bloom."
B. R. VEST, JR., an executive of the Allison Engine company of Indianapolis and M. C. HENDERSON state industrial commissioner for Arizona.
Plane En Route To New York.
The big Douglas plane, eastbound from Los Angeles to New York, was coming in for a routine landing at the airport here. It was seen to go into a flat spin at approximentely 2,000 feet and whirl down over the north ridge of the San Jacinto mountains. It struck the edge of the ridge, bounded into the air, crashed again to the ground and exploded with a roar audible over a wide area. It burned fiercely for hours, but the wreckage had cooled, sufficiently early yesterday to permit removal of the bodies.
The Air Lines, on the authority of CHARLES A. RHEINSTROM, issued this statement: "American Air Lines flight 28 eastbound, from Los Angeles to New York, was in collision with an army bomber and crashed one-half mile west of Palm Springs at 5:15 p. m. (8:15 p.m. EWT) Friday, Oct. 23. All nine passengers and crew of three were killed. The trip left at 4:30 p.m. and was at normal cruising altitude on course; clear weather and daylight when accident occurred."
Two Eyewitnesses.
Two eyewitnesses said the plane spun "three or four miles" before it crashed to earth. They said they had not seen a plane collide with the transport.
FRED KLUG, Palm Springs resident, said he believed he saw part of the planes tail fall off. MISS MARJORIE POHL said she, too, saw the surfaces fall after the plane began its rapid descent.
"The plane was flying at about 3,000 feet when I noticed it," KLUG said. "It started into a circular dive and crashed and burned. The explosion was very loud, even a mile away, where I was."
"The plane was consumed by the fire. Nobody had a chance."

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