Bodies Of Victims Badly Mangled; Plane Mere Mass of Fragments
ARMY IS IN CHARGE OF REMOVAL
Five men lost their lives when an army plane crashed into the side of Sharp Top, one of the twin Peaks of Otter, about 9:40 Tuesday night. Explosions and flames followed the crash and the bodies of the men were so burned and mangled that only one could have been identified.
The plane was identified as a twin-motored Model B-25, No. 129828, from the air base at Columbia, S.C. The only other article found to identify the men was a cap with the name "George R. Beninga, Columbia Air Base," near one of the bodies.
The Columbia army air base, according to an Associates Press dispatch from Columbia, S.C., home field of the plane, announced the names of the casualties, withheld until relatives were notified, together with their next of kin:
Second Lieut. Paul M. Pitts, 21, the pilot; father, L.D. Pitts, Poteau, Okla.
Second Lieut. William McClure, 22, father, William C. McClure, Indianapolis, Ind.
Second Lieut. George R. Beninga; wife, Mrs. Ruth Beninga, Columbia; father Ralph Beninga, Marietta, Minn.
Second Lieut. Hilary S. Blackwell, 22; mother, Mrd. H. A. Blackwell, Santa Monica, Calif.
Cpl Peter J. Biscan, 29; brother, John Biscan, Chicago, Ill.
Major George P. Kaine and Captain Murray B. Hall, of Winston-Salem, who arrived yesterday afternoon, for an inspection, gave orders to the M. P. Carder Company, undertakers, to take charge of the bodies. This company is awaiting shipping orders.
The searching party headed by C. O. Updike, city electrician, and H. F. Turner, chief of the Bedford fire company, came upon the wreck about 12:15, Tuesday night, after a two and a half mile climb up the rugged mountain side. The party left the main highway leading from Kelso to Mons over a narrow, unimproved road to the home of Leonard Stanley. Stanley, who is familiar with the mountain, served as guide in the search. He said he heard the plane pass over his residence, flying at a very low height. The burst of flame followed the crash which sounded like thunder, he said, and explosions continued for 10 or 15 minutes.
The plane crashed about three fourths of a mile south east of a point known as the Needles Eye. The flames had died down before the men reached the scene, only clothes of the men and the plane cushions were smoldering. The wreckage was strewn over a space about 200 yards square and the men were found near in a radius of about 50 feet around the remains of the plane. One parachute was found partly open and parachute flares were found near the wreckage. The motors were not found, and it is thought that they had rolled down the mountain side after the explosion. The plane struck an enormous rock and shook it from the foundation upon which it had rested, probably, for ages.
The rescue party of about 30 men brought the bodies out last night, returning to Bedford about 4 o’clock, this morning. Henry F. Turner headed this group, and the 24 men going from Bedford were joined by several men living near the foot of the mountain. They followed the road leading by the residence of Charles Morgan, near Penicks and went to the home of Frank Dooley. Here the road ends and the men cut a trail from that point to the scene of the accident, three hours being required to reach the accident victims. The men left Bedford about 4:30, yesterday afternoon and worked nearly all night. Few can visualize the enormity of the undertakings. The ground was covered with and ice frozen so hard that the men could hardly break a track, they had to climb over and around enormous rocks and large trees and thick undergrowth halted their progress. Two of the men would probably weighed 250 pounds each, Mr. Turner said. In coming down the mountain the men would some times lose their foothold and slide a distance of 50 feet.
Only one man of the party could be identified, it was said. One man, who must have been in the midst of the explosion, was horribly mangled and decapitated.
Officers here were notified of the accident by Herbert T. Patterson, of Penicks, and the blaze was seen plainly by people here. The attention of many people here had been attracted by this plane which seemed to come from the south and then turn west, flying at a low height into the mountain side.
