Daily Press (Newport News, VA) – 22 Mar 1932
Airplane Crashes Exact Heavy Toll
Fatal Accidents Recorded at two U. S. Training Fields and one in Canada.
(By The Associated Press)
Death rode with military fliers yesterday at two United States training fields and at one in Canada, while researchers in Ohio found the wreckage of a missing mail plan with the pilot dead in his seat.
One pilot, Second Lieut. R. P. O’Keefe, fell to his death, which the other Second Lieut. Rowland O. S. Akre, with one wing torn away managed to bring his ship back over the field and parachuted to safety. At the army field in San Antonio, Texas, Second Lieut. William Lamar Durham, of Nashville, Ga., a graduate of West Point last June, crashed while practicing basic maneuvers. He was killed.
Two Canadian fliers, testing the new slotted wings of a Moth plane crashed at Rockliffe Airdrome, near Ottawa. One was reported dead and the other dangerously hurt.
Searching parties along the Ohio River found the wreckage of Hal George’s missing mail plane near Brown’s Island. George, who lived in Columbus, Ohio, was dead and his body was wrapped in his parachute, as if he had tried to leap. No trace was found of his woman passenger, Dr. Carol S. Cole, of St. Louis, and it was believed she leaped when the plane was forced down in a sleet storm early yesterday.
=================================
Lieut. Akre Gives Graphic Description Of Collision In Midair And ‘Chute Drop.
____________________________
Langley Field Officer Who Jumped For His Life Tells of Thrilling Experiences After Accident.
____________________________
(HAMPTON BUREAU)
Lieutenant Rowland O. S. Akre, an officer in the Forty-ninth Bombardment squadron at Langley, last night gave the Daily Press a graphic account of the collision of the plane driven by Richard P. O’Keefe and his own plane at an altitude of between 6,000 and 8,000 feet off Plum Tree Island yesterday afternoon. Lieutenant Akre said he saw the O’Keefe plane crash through the air and finally make a splash in the Back River, after the collision, while he was trying to right his crippled, one-wing plane, in the hope of finally making a safe landing. He said he could pilot the machine in only one direction. Finally Lieutenant Akre said, he decided to take to the parachute. He had cut off the gas and stopped the engine, but before he could jump he was bumped out of the plane and fortunately dropped far enough to escape being struck. He said he fell several hundred feet before he could open his parachute.
Lieut. Akre, in telling of his near traffic experience, stated that it was “too close to be comfortable”. “We took off at about 2 o’clock for combat practice” he said.
We met over Plum Tree Island in friendly combat at about 2:20 o’clock and immediately went into the tactics of combat practice, diving and circling over each other for about five minutes. After some little of this I headed toward Langley Field after leveling off and flying straight for a breathing spell, as I had just finished diving or had been seiging. At the time I did not see Lieut. O’Keefe, but suddenly in front and above me I saw him diving and he evidently underestimated my speed, as his plane when it went under my plane, stuck and look about three-fourths of my lower right wing had been clipped (Continued on page 11) [Not available]
Airplane Crashes Exact Heavy Toll
Fatal Accidents Recorded at two U. S. Training Fields and one in Canada.
(By The Associated Press)
Death rode with military fliers yesterday at two United States training fields and at one in Canada, while researchers in Ohio found the wreckage of a missing mail plan with the pilot dead in his seat.
One pilot, Second Lieut. R. P. O’Keefe, fell to his death, which the other Second Lieut. Rowland O. S. Akre, with one wing torn away managed to bring his ship back over the field and parachuted to safety. At the army field in San Antonio, Texas, Second Lieut. William Lamar Durham, of Nashville, Ga., a graduate of West Point last June, crashed while practicing basic maneuvers. He was killed.
Two Canadian fliers, testing the new slotted wings of a Moth plane crashed at Rockliffe Airdrome, near Ottawa. One was reported dead and the other dangerously hurt.
Searching parties along the Ohio River found the wreckage of Hal George’s missing mail plane near Brown’s Island. George, who lived in Columbus, Ohio, was dead and his body was wrapped in his parachute, as if he had tried to leap. No trace was found of his woman passenger, Dr. Carol S. Cole, of St. Louis, and it was believed she leaped when the plane was forced down in a sleet storm early yesterday.
=================================
Lieut. Akre Gives Graphic Description Of Collision In Midair And ‘Chute Drop.
____________________________
Langley Field Officer Who Jumped For His Life Tells of Thrilling Experiences After Accident.
____________________________
(HAMPTON BUREAU)
Lieutenant Rowland O. S. Akre, an officer in the Forty-ninth Bombardment squadron at Langley, last night gave the Daily Press a graphic account of the collision of the plane driven by Richard P. O’Keefe and his own plane at an altitude of between 6,000 and 8,000 feet off Plum Tree Island yesterday afternoon. Lieutenant Akre said he saw the O’Keefe plane crash through the air and finally make a splash in the Back River, after the collision, while he was trying to right his crippled, one-wing plane, in the hope of finally making a safe landing. He said he could pilot the machine in only one direction. Finally Lieutenant Akre said, he decided to take to the parachute. He had cut off the gas and stopped the engine, but before he could jump he was bumped out of the plane and fortunately dropped far enough to escape being struck. He said he fell several hundred feet before he could open his parachute.
Lieut. Akre, in telling of his near traffic experience, stated that it was “too close to be comfortable”. “We took off at about 2 o’clock for combat practice” he said.
We met over Plum Tree Island in friendly combat at about 2:20 o’clock and immediately went into the tactics of combat practice, diving and circling over each other for about five minutes. After some little of this I headed toward Langley Field after leveling off and flying straight for a breathing spell, as I had just finished diving or had been seiging. At the time I did not see Lieut. O’Keefe, but suddenly in front and above me I saw him diving and he evidently underestimated my speed, as his plane when it went under my plane, stuck and look about three-fourths of my lower right wing had been clipped (Continued on page 11) [Not available]
Daily Press (Newport News, VA) – 22 Mar 1932
Airplane Crashes Exact Heavy Toll
Fatal Accidents Recorded at two U. S. Training Fields and one in Canada.
(By The Associated Press)
Death rode with military fliers yesterday at two United States training fields and at one in Canada, while researchers in Ohio found the wreckage of a missing mail plan with the pilot dead in his seat.
One pilot, Second Lieut. R. P. O’Keefe, fell to his death, which the other Second Lieut. Rowland O. S. Akre, with one wing torn away managed to bring his ship back over the field and parachuted to safety. At the army field in San Antonio, Texas, Second Lieut. William Lamar Durham, of Nashville, Ga., a graduate of West Point last June, crashed while practicing basic maneuvers. He was killed.
Two Canadian fliers, testing the new slotted wings of a Moth plane crashed at Rockliffe Airdrome, near Ottawa. One was reported dead and the other dangerously hurt.
Searching parties along the Ohio River found the wreckage of Hal George’s missing mail plane near Brown’s Island. George, who lived in Columbus, Ohio, was dead and his body was wrapped in his parachute, as if he had tried to leap. No trace was found of his woman passenger, Dr. Carol S. Cole, of St. Louis, and it was believed she leaped when the plane was forced down in a sleet storm early yesterday.
=================================
Lieut. Akre Gives Graphic Description Of Collision In Midair And ‘Chute Drop.
____________________________
Langley Field Officer Who Jumped For His Life Tells of Thrilling Experiences After Accident.
____________________________
(HAMPTON BUREAU)
Lieutenant Rowland O. S. Akre, an officer in the Forty-ninth Bombardment squadron at Langley, last night gave the Daily Press a graphic account of the collision of the plane driven by Richard P. O’Keefe and his own plane at an altitude of between 6,000 and 8,000 feet off Plum Tree Island yesterday afternoon. Lieutenant Akre said he saw the O’Keefe plane crash through the air and finally make a splash in the Back River, after the collision, while he was trying to right his crippled, one-wing plane, in the hope of finally making a safe landing. He said he could pilot the machine in only one direction. Finally Lieutenant Akre said, he decided to take to the parachute. He had cut off the gas and stopped the engine, but before he could jump he was bumped out of the plane and fortunately dropped far enough to escape being struck. He said he fell several hundred feet before he could open his parachute.
Lieut. Akre, in telling of his near traffic experience, stated that it was “too close to be comfortable”. “We took off at about 2 o’clock for combat practice” he said.
We met over Plum Tree Island in friendly combat at about 2:20 o’clock and immediately went into the tactics of combat practice, diving and circling over each other for about five minutes. After some little of this I headed toward Langley Field after leveling off and flying straight for a breathing spell, as I had just finished diving or had been seiging. At the time I did not see Lieut. O’Keefe, but suddenly in front and above me I saw him diving and he evidently underestimated my speed, as his plane when it went under my plane, stuck and look about three-fourths of my lower right wing had been clipped (Continued on page 11) [Not available]
Airplane Crashes Exact Heavy Toll
Fatal Accidents Recorded at two U. S. Training Fields and one in Canada.
(By The Associated Press)
Death rode with military fliers yesterday at two United States training fields and at one in Canada, while researchers in Ohio found the wreckage of a missing mail plan with the pilot dead in his seat.
One pilot, Second Lieut. R. P. O’Keefe, fell to his death, which the other Second Lieut. Rowland O. S. Akre, with one wing torn away managed to bring his ship back over the field and parachuted to safety. At the army field in San Antonio, Texas, Second Lieut. William Lamar Durham, of Nashville, Ga., a graduate of West Point last June, crashed while practicing basic maneuvers. He was killed.
Two Canadian fliers, testing the new slotted wings of a Moth plane crashed at Rockliffe Airdrome, near Ottawa. One was reported dead and the other dangerously hurt.
Searching parties along the Ohio River found the wreckage of Hal George’s missing mail plane near Brown’s Island. George, who lived in Columbus, Ohio, was dead and his body was wrapped in his parachute, as if he had tried to leap. No trace was found of his woman passenger, Dr. Carol S. Cole, of St. Louis, and it was believed she leaped when the plane was forced down in a sleet storm early yesterday.
=================================
Lieut. Akre Gives Graphic Description Of Collision In Midair And ‘Chute Drop.
____________________________
Langley Field Officer Who Jumped For His Life Tells of Thrilling Experiences After Accident.
____________________________
(HAMPTON BUREAU)
Lieutenant Rowland O. S. Akre, an officer in the Forty-ninth Bombardment squadron at Langley, last night gave the Daily Press a graphic account of the collision of the plane driven by Richard P. O’Keefe and his own plane at an altitude of between 6,000 and 8,000 feet off Plum Tree Island yesterday afternoon. Lieutenant Akre said he saw the O’Keefe plane crash through the air and finally make a splash in the Back River, after the collision, while he was trying to right his crippled, one-wing plane, in the hope of finally making a safe landing. He said he could pilot the machine in only one direction. Finally Lieutenant Akre said, he decided to take to the parachute. He had cut off the gas and stopped the engine, but before he could jump he was bumped out of the plane and fortunately dropped far enough to escape being struck. He said he fell several hundred feet before he could open his parachute.
Lieut. Akre, in telling of his near traffic experience, stated that it was “too close to be comfortable”. “We took off at about 2 o’clock for combat practice” he said.
We met over Plum Tree Island in friendly combat at about 2:20 o’clock and immediately went into the tactics of combat practice, diving and circling over each other for about five minutes. After some little of this I headed toward Langley Field after leveling off and flying straight for a breathing spell, as I had just finished diving or had been seiging. At the time I did not see Lieut. O’Keefe, but suddenly in front and above me I saw him diving and he evidently underestimated my speed, as his plane when it went under my plane, stuck and look about three-fourths of my lower right wing had been clipped (Continued on page 11) [Not available]
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