PILOT’S CONFESSION

Grey River Argus, 16 October 1946, Page 4

PILOT’S CONFESSION

RESPONSIBLE FOR TRAGIC CRASH (Rec. 8.5). NEW YORK, Oct. 14. The first pilot, Leonard Smith, testified at the Civil Aeronautics Board of Inquiry at Cheyenne, Wyoming, that he felt he was responsible for the crash of the United Air Lines D.C. 4 near Cheyenne on October 8, killing two passengers and injuring forty-five. Smith, who has flown for fifteen years, said the blame could not be put on the plane, whose instruments and’ engines were functioning perfectly. He made _ a mistake by taking his eyes off the instruments as the plane circled for a landing at Cheyenne Airport, and probably the aircraft lost altitude. He was on contact flying at the time of the crash, instead o-f instrument flying, which was the Air Line’s prescribed