BEDFORD (Special) -- Five men, believed to have been of the army air service, were killed in the crash of a plane on the south face of the Sharp Top mountain of the twin Peaks of Otter about ten miles northwest of here at 9:40 last night.

Of the five bodies only one appeared to offer possibility of identification. Fragments of an army uniform could be recognized, but insignia and buttons were melted. The bodies were found within a radius of 50 feet of the wreck. A parachute was found partially open and several parachute flares were found near the wreckage.

The wreckage was found by a party headed by C.O. Updike, city electrician of the Town of Bedford and Henry F. Turner, chief of the Bedford fire department, guided by Leonard Stanley, who lives on the mountain several miles from the scene.

The searchers reached the scene about 12:30 this morning and found that the plane had crashed into the side of the mountain against an enormous rock with such force that the rock had been moved out of place. The spot is about a mile and a quarter southeast of the rocks known locally as "The Needles Eye", a few hundred feet below the top of the peak. It is about five and a half miles off Route 43, the only main highway in the vicinity, except the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Stanley said he heard the plane strike a ridge near his home. He said the crash sounded like thunder and explosions followed for 10 or 15 minutes. The searching party went to the home of Stanley, which is about three miles off Route 43, and walked the 2 1/2 miles to the wreck scene. The terrain is rough and snow and ice made the going slow. It took about 2 hours to negotiate the 2 1/2 miles.

The plane's low altitude was noted by many persons in Bedford a short time before the crash. The fire lighted up the whole side of the mountain and was plainly visible from the town.

The wreckage, members of the searching party reported, was scattered over a space about 200 feet square. Clothing of the men and cushions of the plane were still smoldering when the searchers arrived.

First notice of the crash came to Bedford from H. T. Patterson, of near Penicks, a hamlet at the foot of the mountain.

Members of the searching party except those named were Glen Ramsey, Ralph Johnson, Dick Synan, R. E. Anderson, Jr., Lloyd Goode, and Harold Goode. Gordon Coleman, highway officer here, went to the scene last night and had not returned at 11 a.m.

George D. Stathers of the Civil Aeronautic Authority office in Roanoke, visited the scene late last night and it was said he had returned to Roanoke, where he expected to report his observations to government officials. Ambulances from a local undertaking establishment that went out last night returned to town before noon empty and it was not immediately made clear here what further steps for recovery of the bodies are to be taken.