Antarctic Crash Kills Six

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30976, 4 February 1966, Page 1

Antarctic Crash Kills Six

All six members of the crew of a ski-equipped Dakota aircraft attached to the United States Navy’s Air Development Squadron VX6 were killed when the plane crashed on landing on the Ross Ice Shelf shortly after 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

The plane, one of the last three of its type still in u s e for Antarctic operations, was flying from McMurdo Station to pick up a field party of geologists and transfer it to another site. Those killed were: Lieutenant Harold M. Morris, the pilot, married, of South Logan, Utah. Lieutenant William D. Fordell, the co-pilot, of Oregon. Lieutenant - Commander Ronald Rosenthal, the navigator, of New York- city. Petty Officer Richard F. Simmons, married, of Texas. Petty Officer Wayne M. Shattuck, married, of Connecticut. Petty Officer Charles C. Kelly, married, of Tennessee. The accident occurred in a partial white-out, which made it hard to define the surface of the snow. The aircraft stalled and dived almost vertically into the snow. Except for its tail section, the plane was destroyed by fire and exploding jato

bottles. No sign of life was seen by men who reached the scene almost immediately. Fire-charred jato bottles continued to explode for several hours after the accident. The plane crashed on landing at a point called “Mile 60” on the east side of Roosevelt Island, which is an ice island locked in the ice shelf, about 380 miles from McMurdo Station. The crash was reported to McMurdo Station by another VX6 Squadron aircraft which had landed ahead of the Dakota. The crash was the worst in the Antarctic since October, 1958, when six men of the crew of 13 of a United States Air Force Globemaster were killed when the plane hit a mountain 30 mites from Cape Hallett. In 1961 a United States Navy Neptune crashed after taking off from Wilkes Station, killing four crew members and an American scientist. In 1956 another Neptune flown from New Zealand crashed on going into land at McMurdo. Four men were killed and three injured.