Airliner Crashes, 76 Killed

Press, Volume C, Issue 29608, 2 September 1961, Page 11

Airliner Crashes, 76 Killed

f N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

CHICAGO, September 1.

An American Constellation airliner, said to have 76 people on board, crashed and burned in a field in Chicago today. Police said there were apparently no survivors. Twenty bodies were recovered.

The Constellation, owned by Trans World Airlines, was said to be carrying 71 passengers and five of a crew.

The aircraft was on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles after stopping at New York, Pittsburgh, and Chicago, a T.W.A. official said.

The four-engined airliner left Midway airport about 7 p.m. (New Zealand time) and crashed about 12 miles away in a sparsely-settled residential section near Hinsdale, an outlying suburb in the west of Chicago.

A policeman who arrived on the scene soon after the crash said the airliner was burning when he first saw it.

"Only the tail section of the plane was visible when I arrived.” he said. “The plane was in ruins.” The aircraft exploded as it hit the ground in a huge orange ball of fire, the policemah said. The fire hampered the recovery of the bodies. All spare fire-fighting equipment has been sent from Chicago and various suburbs. Baggage was spread over hundreds of yards. The aircraft cut a wide path across a field as it plunged to the ground. Burning Bodies

A policeman, Ted Treiber. who said he was among the first officers at the crash scene, said: “There were burning bodies in the flaming wreckage. The only part of the plane that was not afire was the tail section. One part of the plane was burning several yards away from the main fuselage. “We had an ambulance to the scene minutes after we received the report of the crash. But there were no bodies to remove because of the intense fire.” Police Patrolman Russel Kasnick said he was in a

squad car about 15 miles away “when I saw a huge orange ball of fire and a white puff of smoke. “The smoke took on an orange hue and I thought the Argonne lab had blown up,’’ he said. (He was referring to the nearby Atomic Energy Commission laboratory at Argonne, Illinois). The Constellation narrowly missed a residential area. Wreckage was strewn over a dozen backyards. Flames drove back rescuers. “There were no human sounds.” another policeman said. “The bodies and luggage were strewn over the fields as widely as the wreck, age.” Missed Houses “The plane just missed five homes in the area. It came within 150 feet of one of the homes,” an eye-witness said. He said he heard one man at the scene say: “I live about two blocks from the crash and a suitcase came down in my backyard.” A plastics worker, Mr William Payne, said: “All I could see at the crash place was just part of an aircraft's tail and two motors. They jvere burning—not bad. you know, just small flames. “There were lots of squad cars and ambulances all trying to get near the wreckage at the same time. It was al) confusion.” A T.W.A. spokesman in New, York said the aircraft apparently exploded after take-off. ’“Midway tower reported seeing a flash three minutes after the plane took off.” he said. Search work was hampered by a big crowd of spectators which gathered at the scene, local police said. Opinions differed on

whether the aircraft exploded in the air or after impact, United Press International reported. One eye-witness said the Constellation “fell like a comet.” on fire before it hit the field. A woman in a house several blocks from the crash scene said the aircraft blew up “like an atomic bomb” after it hit the ground. “I saw a terrific flame In the cornfield,” she said. “It wasn't long before about a thousand people gathered." The crew of the airliner were listed as Captain James H. Saunders, First Officer Dale Tarrant. Flight Engineer James C. Newlin, and two hostesses, Nanette Fidger and Barbara Pearson.