Victims of the 1949 Journalist's flight in India: a Virtual Cemetery - Find a Grave

Advertisement

See all by Scott G

A Virtual Cemetery created by Scott G

Victims of the 1949 Journalist's flight in India

Forty four persons, including 14 top flight American news correspondents, were killed when a Dutch KLM Constellation airliner crashed into a hill just outside Bombay, India during a torrential rain. The U.S. reporters were returning from a tour of Indonesia by invitation of the Dutch government. Two members of the journalistic party elected not to fly back aboard the Constellation. All others aboard were killed. In Hong Kong, Mrs. Dorothy Brandon, New York Herald Tribune correspondent, charged that the Indonesians sabotaged the plane. She said that in refusing to fly back aboard it, she had ""told them that this would happen." The correspondents, she said, had offended the Indonesians by reporting the Dutch version of the Indonesian struggle. At the New York office of the Indonesian republic it was said that the idea of sabotage was "absurd and unthinkable." Mutilated bodies, among them those of nine women, were thrown over the rain-lashed hillside north of Bombay where the four-engined transport crashed and disintegrated. One wing burst into flames when it hit.The Constellation made four passes at the storm-bound Bombay Airport. Then it wheeled away to destruction on a 300-foot slope of the rocky Ghatkopar hills.

14 memorials

Nathaniel Abbott “Nat” Barrows Flowers have been left.

14 Mar 1905 – 12 Jul 1949

Middleborough, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA

James Holloway Branyan Flowers have been left.

15 Apr 1917 – 12 Jul 1949

New Albany, Union County, Mississippi, USA

Frederick Wall “Fred” Colvig

14 Jun 1913 – 12 Jul 1949

Mumbai (Bombay), Maharashtra, India

Elsie Dick Flowers have been left.

23 Dec 1906 – 12 Jul 1949

Cremated , Ashes given to family or friend

Thomas Anthony Falco Flowers have been left.

9 Jun 1910 – 12 Jul 1949

Suitland, Prince George's County, Maryland, USA

Plot info: The Sanctuary

Charles Edward Gratke

11 Aug 1901 – 12 Jul 1949

Cremated , Ashes given to family or friend

S. Burton HeathFamous Memorial Veteran Flowers have been left.

20 Dec 1898 – 12 Jul 1949

Journalist. Awarded the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for...

Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA

Plot info: Section 13, Lot 804

Bertram Dyer Hulen Flowers have been left.

9 Jul 1889 – 12 Jul 1949

Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA

Plot info: Sec: 34, Site: 2854

Hubert Renfro “Red” KnickerbockerFamous Memorial Veteran Flowers have been left.

31 Jan 1898 – 12 Jul 1949

Pulitzer Prize Recipient in Journalism. He...

Mumbai (Bombay), Maharashtra, India

Plot info: Plot NE 11 Grave B-2

Lynn Carlisle Mahan Flowers have been left.

28 Apr 1909 – 12 Jul 1949

Hopkins, Nodaway County, Missouri, USA

Michael Vincent Mahoney Jr. Flowers have been left.

1 Jul 1902 – 12 Jul 1949

Dublin, Laurens County, Georgia, USA

George Lester Moorad

25 Mar 1908 – 12 Jul 1949

Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, USA

Plot info: Section 106, Lot 5-H, Grave 1

CAPT William Henry Newton Veteran

1912 – 1949

Milan, Erie County, Ohio, USA

John G Werkley

1913 – 12 Jul 1949

Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey, USA

Javascript required: We're sorry, but Find a Grave doesn't work properly without JavaScript enabled. You will need to enable Javascript by changing your browser settings. Learn how to enable it.