PLANE CRASHES INTO FLATS

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27794, 20 October 1955, Page 13

PLANE CRASHES INTO FLATS

BABY KILLED AT CHRISTENING

(Rec, 10 p.m.) HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 18. A small plane piloted by the millionaire sportsman, Mr Joel Thorne, crashed into a block of flats and exploded into flames in the midst of a gay christening party last night. Three persons were killed—Mr Thorne, the newly-christened' infant, Sherill Presten. and Mrs Betty Wolf, aged 18. Seven other persons, including two other children, were burned critically when the Beechcraft Bonanza plane crashed into the buildOccupants of the flats said they heard a plane flying low with its engine sputtering just before the crash. Within minutes, the quiet residential neighbourhood was a scene of screaming children and stunned adults, | stumbling from the wrecked building, their clothes ablaze and their bodies blackened. Mr Thorne, aged 40, heir to a banking fortune and a well-known racing car and plane enthusiast, had competed several times in the 500-mile Indianapolis speedway. Seven persons attending the christening party were taken to hospital in critical condition from burns. They included the child’s parents, Mike Presten, aged 31, and his wife, Shirley, aged 25. “We heard the plane, some noise, and then the room exploded,” a woman said from her hospital bed. After a preliminary examination, officials said the wreckage indicated a structural failure in the air from overstress, possibly from excessive speed or violent handling of the aircraft.