Cloverdale, IL Private Plane Crash, May 1952

PLANE CRASH KILLS 2 SUNDAY ON FARM NEAR CLOVERDALE.

Two suburban businessmen were killed Sunday when their light plane crashed in a field on the William J. Leidy farm, Gretna and Prairie Avenue rds., southeast of Cloverdale, shortly after 11 a.m.
Both veteran civilian pilots, they were:
HARRY J. NICHOLAS, 63, Oak Park.
GEORGE CHARD, 55, Elmwood Park.
NICHOLAS, who leaves a wife and son, was president of the American Tool Supply company, Chicago. CHARD was married with three children. He was maintenance supervisor at the Tuttle and Kift company, also of Chicago.
Their plane, a two-seater Luscombe model 8A, was owned by the North Shore Flying club to which they reportedly belonged and was based at Sky Haven airport, southeast of Bensenville. Officials there reported that the men took off less than half an hour before the crash apparently took place.
No witnesses to the crash have been found, but the first persons to arrive at the scene was Dwight H. Holthusen, a neighboring farmer, sheriff's deputies report. He found the plane's nose buried into the soil, newly seeded with corn, almost a foot. The bodies of both men were trapped inside.
An investigation led to the discovery that there were no tire marks around the plane and so the men were apparently not attempting to land, it is believed. The plane had always been kept in good condition, a Sky Haven official said.
CHARD, who was at the controls when the plane took off, had been a pilot for 30 years and was at one time a civilian instructor. NICHOLAS had been flying for 26 years and was a sergeant in the Civil Air Patrol during World War II.

Daily Herald Chicago Illinois 1952-05-23
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!