Airliner Hurled Into Hill By Tornado : All Aboard Killed

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22730, 31 August 1948, Page 5

Airliner Hurled Into Hill By Tornado : All Aboard Killed

;<lO a.m.) NEW YORK, Aug. 30. An airliner with 36 persons aboard crashed near Winona, Minnesota, at dusk on Sunday night while on a flight from Chicago to Minneapolis.

All aboard were killed, 21 bodies so far have been found, but the wreckage is scattered over a mile area and the recovery of the remaining bodies may be delayed.

The aircraft ran into a violent storm that ripped through south-eastern Minnesota, uprooting trees and causing widespread damage.

The aircraft was a twin-engined, short-range transport which is a new type specially designed for post-war travel. The airliner crashed into a 500 ft. hill near the Mississippi River. There was no fire.

An eye-witness said the airliner burst from the clouds in heavy rain at full throttle. . It looked as if it was trying to gain altitude to climb over the hill. Then it made a complete turn, cleared two smaller hills and roared crazily in‘o a third hill.

The Sheriff of St. Paul, Mr. Henry Rhyner, said he believed that a tornado hit the airliner. He said that eye-wit-ness accounts indicated that a tornado was just starting to dip towards the earth when it struck the aircraft, smashing it against the ridge. The reports that a tornado hit the air-liner were supported by the Civil Aeronautics Administration inspector. He said the plane was probably thrown out of control by tornadic winds and “came apart at the seams.”