Columbus, GA Planes Collide Over Airport, Apr 1947

AIR COLLISION CAUSES DEATH OF 9 PERSONS.

Columbus, Ga. -- (AP) -- Nine persons were killed today when a special Delta airlines plane carrying eight employes of the company, including one top official, collided with a civilian plane and both crashed onto the airport here where they were enveloped in flames.
The Delta plane was coming into the airport for a landing when, airline officials said, the civilian plane "came down from overhead and struck the tail of our ships." Both planes plunged 30 feet to the ground, the civilian plane falling underneath the tail of the Delta ship which had broken in half.
The two planes burned for more than an hour after the crash. Flames made it impossible to rescue any of the victims.
The Delta plane was on a survey flight. The name of the civilian plane pilot, the ninth victim of the crash, was not learned immediately.
T. J. PEDDY, manager of Eastern Airlines here, said he was informed the training plane crashed into the tail of the Delta plane as the latter approached the end of the landing strip.
The Delta plane was en route here from Macon where the Delta officials made a survey yesterday of airport facilities for a new alternate route between Atlanta and Savannah.

Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune Wisconsin 1947-04-22

-----------------------------------------------------------

Victims of the crash:
GEORGE R. CUSHING, 48, vice-president of operations and a veteran pilot who was flying the Delta plane, formerly of Philadelphia.
LINDLEY W. CAMP, 65, solicitor of the Fulton Criminal Court and an attorney for Delta who served as adjutant general of Georgia from 1933 to 1937 under the late governor Eugene Talmadge.
H. R. BOLANDER, 37, director of properties formerly of San Francisco and Memphis.
J. V. LITTLE, 38, district traffic manager.
L. T. CAMPBELL, 40, superintendent of communications.
E. A. RAINOUARD, 38, chief flight superintendent formerly of New York.
JOHN L. SCHNEIDER, 37, superintendent of stations formerly of Natchez, Miss.
CLAYTON BERRY, 38, superintendent of airport construction.
The ninth victim of the twin crash was JACK RUSSELL, about 42, a Columbus beer wholesaler, who recently purchased the ship, a small Army trainer.

The above list of casualties is taken from:
The Bradford Era Pennsylvania 1947-04-23
__________________

Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!