Bolivia, NC Airliner Crashes In Woodlands, Jan 1960

34 KILLED WHEN MIAMI-BOUND AIRLINER CRASHES IN WOODLANDS NEAR WILMINGTON.

EXPLOSION OF PLANE SUSPECTED.

Bolivia, N. C. (AP) -- A National Airlines night coach flying non-stop from New York to Miami crashed with 34 persons aboard before dawn today in swampy woodlands near here.
"There will not be any survivors," said Deputy Sheriff H. G. RATCLIFF.
Seventeen bodies had been recovered late this morning.
Reporters on the scene said the big plane appeared to have exploded in the air and debris and bodies were scattered over an area of 20 acres.
The four-engine ship, making one of two substitute flights carrying vacation-bound passengers originally booked on a canceled jet flight, struck earth 2 1/2 miles southwest of Bolivia, a hamlet 25 miles southwest of Wilmington.
The other substitute plane, an Electra turbo-prop plane, reached Miami safely with 76 passengers and crew members.
The plane that crashed carried 29 passengers and a crew of five.
Its passengers included retired Navy Vice Adm. EDWARD ORRICK McDONNELL, who held a Congressional Medal of Honor and numerous other decorations for World War II service. He commanded an aircraft carrier in the Pacific.
Most of the passengers were Easterners, bound for vacations at Florida's sunny resorts.
The plane had been flying through rainy weather.
The watch on the wrist of a crew member found in the cockpit was stopped at 2:45 a.m., indicating that the crash occurred some 14 minutes after the pilot reported in by radio. He indicated no trouble at that time.
The possibility that passengers were aware of trouble before the crash was seen in the fact that a number of victims were clad in Mae West life preservers. The life preservers on some had been inflated.
A piece of the wing and most of the ripped fuselage fell in a field, while the cockpit struck in woods 50 yards away.
The plane crashed on the small farm of RICHARD RANDOLPH. His wife, LETZIE, was awakened by the noise and she awakened her husband.
"We heard an engine going chug-a-chug," he said, "like it was cutting in and out. Then it sounded like tin doors and windows ripping off. Then there was a big boom like dynamite."
RANDOLPH arose and looked out the window. He could see nothing but a small flame which soon went out. He returned to bed.
Early this morning their small son, McARTHUR, went to the field to see what happened and found the plane. The Negro farmer drove to Bolivia, the nearest phone and an operator connected him with the New Hanover airport at Wilmington. He then waited in Bolivia until highway patrolmen arrived about 7:30 a.m., and guided them to the scene.
Emergency and rescue vehicles rushed to the scene. A light rain fell as rescuers searched for bodies.
The FBI sent its special disaster squad to the scene. This was requested by CHARLES SHARP, National's vice president. The squad of three fingerprint experts has identified more than 80 per cent of the victims of airliner crashes it has investigated.
"We heard a loud noise about 2:40 a. m., that woke us up," said MRS. RUBY EDWARDS, Bolivia's postmistress. "And the first thing we thought of was a plane."
"The sound at first was sort of a 'poosh,' like it was coming down real fast. Then it sounded as if it was coming apart, and then there was a thud. It came down about half a mile from out home."
"When we found it hadn't been reported, we called the Wilmington Airport. We had looked out to see if there was a light or anything, but it was raining and real dense. We couldn't see anything."
A number of bodies lay among scattered luggage and pieces of the ship.
MRS. EDWARDS' husband, LESTER L. EDWARDS, a forest ranger, said it appeared to him that the plane might have exploded in flight. This opinioin was shared also by DOYLE HOWARD, a reporter on the scene from the Wilmington News.
The giant night flying coach, a DC6B, was last heard from at 2:34 a.m. At that time the plane was just south of Wilmington when the pilot made a check.
The flight plane called for the plane to hug the coast on the leg from New York to Wilmington, then to swing out to sea for the overwater leg to Palm Beach. Weather conditions were to dictate when the plane was to turn over the Atlantic.
Clouds and rain lay in the plane's route as it passed Wilmington. But, said a spokesman, the big coach should have found clearing skies south of Wilmington. Airline officials said the ship had enough gasoline to remain aloft until 7:06 a.m. She was due at Miami at 4:36 a.m. It had left New York at 11:52 p.m.
Word that the plane was missing touched off a widespread search along the coast.
The Coast Guard put out seven aircraft and a number of surface vessels from Elizabeth City, N.C., Jacksonville and Miami. The Navy dispatched four vessels from Charleston, S.C., and four planes from Jacksonville.
Capt. C. H. RUDY, National's chief pilot, left Miami in a twin-engine Convair with a crew of eight in an apparent plan to trace northward over the DC6B's route.
A NAL plane, less than two months ago, crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, killing 42 persons aboard. It was on a flight from Miami to New Orleans. Most of the bodies and wreckage remain unrecovered.
In New York, National Airlines said it had asked the FBI to send experts to Bolivia to speed identification of the victims.
The airline said it was making efforts to fly relatives of the victims to the scene this afternoon.
The plane was manned by a veteran crew.
Capt. DALE SOUTHARD, 46, the pilot, flew bombers for a ferry service during World War II. He was born in Nebo, Mo. R. L. HENTZEL, 32, co-pilot, came with NAL in 1954 after five years in the Air Force. He was a Cleveland, Ohio, native. R. R. HALLECKSON, 35, flight engineer, joined the company in May, 1953. During World War II he served on B29 bombers. He was born in St. Paul, Minn.

AIRLINE RELEASES LIST OF PASSENGERS.
Wilmington (AP) -- National Airlines issued this list of passengers aboard the plane which crashed today at Bolilvia:
MR. and MRS. EDWARD A. EDWARDS, of Forest Hills, Queens, N. Y.
R. FRIED, of 70 Riverside Drive, New York.
JULIAN K. FRANK, of Westport, Conn.
MR. and MRS. M. FINKELSTEIN, of 319 Sharpmack St., Philadelphia.
MR. and MRS. VICTOR H. KAY, 26 Bluebird Dr., Roslyn Heights, N. Y.
MR. and MRS. H. KELLAR, 1303 Avenue N., Brooklyn, N. Y.
MR. and MRS. KUNIN, Bridgepart, Conn.
DR. and MRS. A. LAWRENCE, Golden's Bride, N. Y.
MRS. PEARL MERRILL, 799 East 17th St., Brooklyn.
Vice Adm. EDWARD O. McDONELL, USN ret., of Mill Neck, N. Y., and Hobe Sound, Fla.
MRS. C. ORENSTEIN, New York.
EPHRAIN POLLO.
CARLOS RAMOS.
MRS. MARIA RODRIGUEZ.
MR. and MRS. I. RUBINSTEIN, New York.
J. RYAN, 18 Jefferson Ave., Rockville Centre, N. Y.
MR. and MRS. J. SCHINE, Bridgeport, Conn.
MR. and MRS. M. SILVER, Connecticut.
FRED Y. SWEETING, 18, of Port Washington, N. Y.
MISS M. WAINSTOCK.
The crew:
Capt. DALE SOUTHARD.
Co pilot R. L. HANTZELL.
Engineer ROBERT H. HALLECKSON.
Stewardess VALERY STUART, 40 Ranch Lane, Levittown, N. Y.
Stewardess MARILU ODELL, 212 South Orange Ave., South Orange, N. J.

Daily Times News Burlington North Carolina 1960-01-06

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