AIRLINER CRASH CAUSE SOLVED, HINTS CAB CHIEF

Chatsworth, July 13 (U.P.) -- Pilot ROY G. WHITE was 2000 feet below officially prescribed altitude when he smashed a C-46 Commando into the Santa Susana Mountains with loss of 34 of its 48 occupants, Civil Aeronautics Board inspector JAMES PELTON said today.
"I think I know why he was too low, but I don't want to say why until we complete our investigation a hold a formal hearing," he said.
He said he was convinced a fight between two passengers had no bearing on the crash.
The plane, owned by Standard Airlines a non-scheduled line, crashed and burned in Santa Susana Pass yesterday morning as WHITE was coming in for a landing at Lockheed Air Terminal, Burbank.
Ventura County Deputy Coroner JOHN BRAGG said 33 bodies have been recovered. Fourteen injured were identified and one passenger was unaccounted for and presumed dead. The airline said that one of the originally reported 49 occupants -- LOIS TUCKER -- apparently failed to board the plane at Kansas City.
PEYTON said he and his investigators would spend "another two or three days" digging through the charred wreckage strewn among the boulders in an effort to confirm his opinion of why WHITE was flying at 1600 feet instead of 3500 as prescribed by the CAB.
"Everything else about his approach was normal," PEYTON said. "He came in on the right leg, contacted the control tower at the proper points, lowered his landing gear as prescribed, and made the correct procedure turn."
He added that visibility was adequate, pointing out that a California Central Airlines pilot in the air waiting his turn to land was able to see the burning wreckage of WHITE'S plane from the prescribed altitude of 3500 feet.
"The reports of a fight aboard the plane have a place in our thinking, of course," PEYTON said, "but from our interview with survivors we're sure it had no bearing on the crash. It wasn't too big a fight, and it was over long before the crack-up."
Deputy Coroners BRAGG and WATKINS concentrated today on identification of the 33 recovered bodies. They said some may never be identified positively because they were so badly burned and mangled.

LIST OF DEAD, HURT, MISSING IN DISASTER.
Los Angeles, July 13 -- (AP) -- The latest revised list of identified dead in yesterday's crash:
Capt. ROY G. WHITE, 35, pilot, Wilmington, Calif.
HAROLD TUCKER, 30, co-pilot, Long Beach, Calif.
MARIANNE ROSE, 24, stewardess, Long Beach.
JOEL FREEMAN, 46, furrier, Los Angeles.
FRANK CONWAY, 1314 Broadway, Albany, N. Y.
JACK LEVY, 1745 50th Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.
CARMEN PALAMINI, Bayonne, N. J.
IRVING H. LEVIN, 48, Bronx, N. Y.
DAVID ELFMAN, 65, Los Angeles.
MRS. ROBERT L. BARRET, New York City.
HARLEY S. DAVIS, 30, North Hollywood.
PHILIP ZIMAN, 40, Los Angeles.
NORMA NORTH, actress, New York City.
NATHAN LEVINE, Brooklyn, N. Y.
MISS CLARA FEDDERS, Los Angeles.
MRS. DOROTHY GRIFFIN, San Marino, Calif.
Identified Injured:
CHARLOTTE GRENANDER, 26, stewardess, Long Beach.
VIKI ZELSDORF, chief stewardess, Long Beach.
MRS. MILDRED R. HARRIS, 28, North Hollywood
DIANA CAROL HARRIS, 5, North Hollywood.
MRS. MARY F. PETRIE, 33, Los Angeles.
MRS. AMELIA CUNNINGHAM, 22, Los Angeles.
MR. and MRS. LAWRENCE BETTIS, Long Beach.
Pvt. ROBERT E. STEINWEG, Pentaluna.
MISS THERESA GREY, 33, Bronx, N. Y.
MISS CAREN MARSH, 24, actress, Los Angeles.
MRS. JUDY FROST, 18, Long Beach.
GEORGE TREBAT, New York City.
G. B. BAKER, Cleveland, Ohio.
Unaccounted For And Presumed Dead:
J. A. COHN, San Pedro, Calif.
MRS. ROBERT FRESE, Long Beach.
BILLY FRESE, 3, Long Beach.
ROBERTA FRESE, 12, Long Beach.
MRS. RITA KELLINSKI, Kearny, N. J.
IDA McSWEEN, New York City.
MRS. NATHAN LEVINE, New York City.
MRS. P. H. SHUTE, New York City.
HAROLD SCHWARTZ, 9, Brooklyn, N. Y.
MRS. J. ARNOLD, Hotel Dorset, New York City.
C. A. MILLER, Los Angeles.
MRS. JACK LEVY, Brooklyn, N. Y.
ED WALL, 179 Chattanooga Street, San Francisco.
LINTON M. BARTSCHECK, 25, U. S. Naval Air Station, Imperial, Calif.
ALMA S. BARTSCHECK, same address.
LINTON BARTSCHECK, JR., 3, same address.
MR. and MRS. DAN HART, Riverside, Calif.
LOIS TUCKER, address unknown.
NORMA NORTH, New York City.

Oakland Tribune California 1949-07-13
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!