1951-01-17-sc-p41-airline-crash-at-reardan-edwall

January 17, 1951 Spokane Daily Chronicle Page 45:

Investigators Seek Cause of Region's Worst Crash

(Continued from page 1)

Bundy was the door of his home about the time of the explosion. He asked his wife to notify Fairchild air force base and the sheriff of Lincoln county

So close was the crash to the Bundy home—about 250 yards that for a time it was feared that the home would burn, This prompt- }ed the calling of the fire equipment from district No. 4 at Edwall. Making the “run” to the fire were Chief Charles Jans, Tom Hutton, Vern Anderson, O. D. Byram and Bert Bjertness.

“We could see pieces of bodies scattered for yards in the twisted wreckage,” said Byram. Air mail was also scattered all around.”

Byram said the airliner apparently first struck a fence, then a Small ditch and then went to pieces.

Around the bodies were still the safety belts worn by passengers,” he said.

As the intensity of the storm increased, highway conditions became increasingly dangerous. Ambulances from Fairchild and the 116th air guard fighter squadron, Geiger, followed by fire-fighting equipment, bucked growing drifts of snow and the wind and snow stung the faces of drivers.

Williams corner, on the highway between Reardan and Edwall, became jammed with sliding, skidding and twisting traffic as Lincoln county sheriff's deputies turned back traffic from the rolling country road leading about three miles to the Bundy farm.

S/Sgt. Wesley G. Regan and Sgts. James E., White and James W. Burton of the 116th fighter squadron returned here about midnight with the mangled bodies.

They left the crash at 6 p. m., but were stopped by the storm at Reardan. They followed a snowplow for about five miles.

Investigators had little to say as they left here today for the scene of the crash.

“I've seen numerous accidents as an employee of the CAA and during the war, but none equal to this,” said Gillis.

“Usually the tail of the airplane can be located intact, but not this time. The farm littered with small parts.”

Some of the investigators felt that weather was not responsible for the crash.

Martin 2-0-2s are said to be constructed and equipped to throw off ice.

These views are expected to be verified when the investigators talk with Pilot Kenneth Brinnon, and Co-pilot FE. Sauers of flight 503, which took off from Geiger about five minutes before ill-fated flight 115, headed west for Yakima and Seattle.

It is said that flight 503 received instructions. in the air to deviate from its course to check reports that flight 115 had crashed near Edwall.

Pilots Brinnon and Sauers observed smoke from the burning 2-0-2, Northwest officials said.

Assuming these reports as cor- rect, investigators feel that they will establish weather as an unimportant factor.

Edwall Tragedy Fifth

Accidents of Martin 2-0-2s have “dogged” Northwest Airlines for several months. Yesterday's was the fifth.

Early this winter one crashed near Butte, Mont. Soon thereafter Croil Hunter of St. Paul, president of Northwest, ordered all 2-0-2s grounded for a thorough structural inspection and modifications.

They were out of service for about 10 days, after which they were returned to duty as rapidly as inspections were completed.

The state highway department employees which rescue crew members praised for long hours of work conditions in bitter storm conditions are Herman K. Wahl, and Marvin J. Reynolds.

They drove their truck plow back and forth between the main highway and scene of the crash in an attempt to keep drifts open. Often they stopped to pull other vehicles back onto the road.

In Davenport, Lincoln county coroner said today no inquest would be held for the plane crash victims unless Northwest Airlines asked for it. He said four bodies had been tentatively identified so far and identification was proceeding on the others with difficulty due to their mangled condition.