Pittsburgh, PA Mail Plane Crash, Jan 1935

AIR MAIL PILOT KILLED WHEN PLANE CRASHES.

Pittsburgh, Jan. 26 -- (AP) -- Taking off in his mail plane into stormy darkness, Pilot FLOYD CHURCH, 33, of Newark, N.J., crashed 10 minutes later and was burned to death early today.
The TWA mail ship, which CHURCH was flying alone, crashed and caught fire in a slag dump a little more than a mile from the airport which he had left a few moments before.
The plane and all the mail sacks were destroyed, airport officials said. The pilot apparently was trapped after the crackup and was unable to escape the flames.
CHURCH was bound from Newark to Columbus. He stopped at the airport at 2:05 a.m. to refuel and pick up the mail. He took off again at 2:20 a.m. and a few minutes later attendants saw him circling around as if trying to get back to the field.
After about 10 minutes in which the plane apparently made no headway, it went into a dive and a moment later attendants saw flames at the scene of the crash.
Rescuers rushed toward the slag dump but arrived to find the ship almost completely burned up and CHURCH dead.

Charleston Daily Gazette West Virginia 1935-01-26
__________________

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