An unidentified airplane crashed and burned on the Peaks of Otter, several miles west of Bedford, between 9 and 10 o'clock last night and searching parties made up of farmers, police and volunteers from Bedford were making their way up the rough side of the peak, known as "Sharp Top," early this morning to reach the wreckage.

Civil Aeronautics Authority officials here were without definite word on the crash other than information which was made available to The Times by a resident of the Peaks section who heard the plane flying low, followed by the crash and burst of flame.

A CAA inspector was dispatched from Roanoke about 11:30 o'clock when the crash reports were definitely confirmed.

It appeared "definite" here, however, that the plane was not a regularly scheduled plane of an airline, since none of the liners was unreported in flight, it was learned.

Mrs. Charles Morgan, who lives a few miles from the scene of the crash, on the Kelso road, told The Times at midnight that she and her husband heard the plane, "flying low" and then, a few moments later, there was a crash. She and Mr. Morgan ran from the house and saw the flames flash up on the mountainside, she said.

"Lots of people around here heard it, " Mrs. Morgan continued, "and several of them saw the flames just after we heard the crash."

Mr. Morgan telephoned word to a distant resident, who in turn, passed the report to Bedford police, who, among other residents of the town, had heard a low-flying plane circling the town a few minutes earlier. Bedford police gave the first word to the airport here and CAA officials.

Mrs. Morgan said she was accustomed to hearing planes flying over her home day and night, and declared that the ship which crashed "did not sound like a training plane - it sounded like it was a lot bigger." She added that the sound of training planes was familiar to her since a number of them fly over that section almost regularly.

Flames on the side of the Peak were visible from Bedford a few minutes after the plane had been heard over the town, it was said. One resident said the plane appeared to have approached from the south, circled low and then headed off in a northwesterly direction. Minutes later, several residents who had gone into the street, fearful that the plane would crash, heard what appeared to be a crash and saw the flames, it was stated.

The crash occurred at 9:40 at a spot identified by a veteran resident of Bedford as "Buzzard's Roost." He said he had gone with others to the foot of the Peaks of Otter and could easily see the flames, which began subsiding within an hour. From the point where he was forced to halt his car, others had set out on foot.

Mrs. Morgan said that shortly after the crash, the lights of lanterns in the hands of farmers who set out for the scene, could be seen slowly ascending the peak.

Two ambulances and one or more doctors hurried to the scene, and state police also joined the searching party.

At midnight, it was reported that no word was expected for a least an hour and possibly longer.

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Note: My word processor nearly went into shock with the above article, however, I stayed true to the author's original document.