LIKE GIANT SCYTHE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19628, 24 October 1933, Page 14

LIKE GIANT SCYTHE

FALLING AEROPLANE CUTS TREE TOPS. NEW YORK, October 12. Roaring to earth in the darkness, the twin-engined transport plane, which crashed in Indiana last night, killing all the seven occupants, mowed the tops off big trees like a giant scythe. Bits of the ’plane were scattered over an area a thousand feet square, one massive wheel hanging suspended from a tree—that is all that remains of the New York to Chicago air liner. Officers of the United Airlines Transport Company said to-day that it was the first fatality that had occurred in their planes in seven years, during which millions of air miles had been travelled. It is believed that engine trouble developed when the plane was flying at 170 miles an hour. The pilot may have been disabled, for one engine was roaring with the throttle wide open, as the 'plane descended. The machine mowed the tops off big tress like a giant scythe, and a terrific explosion, followed by a burst of flame, ended all chance of rescue. The plane crashed in a field near Chesterton, Indiana. The victims were the chief pilot, the co-pilot, the stewardess and four passengers, one of whom is said to have been a cinema actress, travelling under the name of Dorothy Dwyer. After the plane had left Cleveland, Ohio, periodic radio reports were received, saying, "All well and on time.” The last “All well" came a few minutes before the crash. Then the plane got off its regular course, which Indicated possible engine trouble, and aimed at an emergency landing field.