Show 2 Women omen Fliers Die 1 Wh 1 en e 1 Plane Crashes Crashes' Among Dense Timber Air Adventure Ends i iI I I Tragically t I Vv TrI WI 1 Q j C DEBBIE STANFORD and R RUTH TH STEWART Planned Daring Flight Searchers Recover Bodies After Sighting Wreckage Wreckage Wreckage Wreck Wreck- age From Air PAIR MISSING TWO DAYS- DAYS 1 Remains of One Aviatrix Badly Mangled By PAUL COMLY FRENCH Copyright 1932 by United Press NEWVILLE Pa Jan 7 Ruth 7 Ruth Stewart and Debbie Stanford adventurous adventurous society avIatrIxes crashed and were killed on wooded Sherman mountain we found today when after sighting their crumpled plane from the air we returned to the scene of the crash by automobile Their white Lockheed monoplane crashed into the dense timber of the foot 1400 mountain after they left Pittsburg Tuesday en route to New NewYork NewYork York from where they planned to start a leisurely air tour to South Amer America ca They left St Louis last week Solution of the mystery of their disappearance was made by the United Press correspondent and J. J Paul Lukens pilot for the Autogiro company as we soared on a rescue mission over the dangerous mid mid- Pennsylvania mountain gaps PLANE WRECKED When we returned to the mountain moun moun- tam tain we found the trim white plane broken in two In the cabin we found the body of Mrs Stanford a a acut cut over one eye Mrs Stewarts Stewart's mangled body was found crushed under the engine of the craft It appeared probable that Mrs Stewart had hd been killed instantly in but that that- Mrs Mis Stanford had been unconscious and bad had died some hours later Lukens and I who first sighted the wrecked craft while flying over the mountain were the first to reach the bodies which were not Imme immediately removed to Newville Scores of automobiles automobiles au au- came from Newville to the scene and an undertaker was summoned summoned summoned sum sum- from N Newville The plane had crashed in dense woods on the very mountaintop The wreckage was only a few hundred feet from a narrow mountain road that led to a fire tower near the wreckage Lukens an expert pilot viewed the wreckage and the terrain and had little difficulty visualizing the last moments of the two women fliers He believed they were flying through a heavy fog They negotiated a spin a common trick to get out Not realizing how low they were Continued on Pace Page Nine I I i I 1 WOMAN FLIERS FLIERS' BODIES FOUND Continued From Paso Page One On flying ling they crashed into the m mountaintop mountaintop moun moun- un without a seconds second's warn warning mg FIND WRECKAGE In a car we engaged at t t Newville and accompanied by 10 members of the Pennsylvania national guards we approached the wreckage from the mountain road It was soft soU muddy and rind we along with mud up to our ankles We broke through dense underbrush and came upon the wreckage The crash had been terrific The engine was half buried in the ground We first glimpsed Mrs Stewarts Stewart's body projecting from under the en en- gine The wings and cabin were a amass amass amass mass of tangled splintered frag frag- ments The plane glistened white and clean in bright sunlight We helped the national guardsmen lift the heavy engine to remove Mrs Stewarts Stewart's body Then we wc looked about for the body of Mrs Stanford But the plane had crashed in such sucha a way that the wings blocked entrance entrance entrance en en- trance to the cabin Exercising our mass strength we finally succeeded in m tearing the wings apart There on the floor loor of the cabin was her body with a deep gash over the eye Otherwise there was no physical mark of injury Mrs Stewart was killed instantly Mrs Stanford might have lived for fora a number of hours after alter the crash AUTOS ARRIVE B By this time other cars were ing State police reinforced the national national na na- na guard and a cordon was thrown around the wreckage to keep back the curious Pilots who came to the rescue pictured pictured pic pie a to the ambitious plans of the Women One remarked remarked- They never never knew what happened The plane apparently shot down direct out of the fog Only two sap lings in the dense growth of nines pines and spruce had been shattered by the plane The craft struck on the right wing nosed into the mountain then shot over on the left wing The rear part of the plane was cracked off In the front ont cockpit was Mrs Stewart Stew Stew- art still wearing the modish white flying costume in which she so gaily set out from St St. Louis Cavalrymen and state troopers had to chop away parts of the fuselage and the engine to remove her bod body BODY I IN CABIN Then we made our way into the cabin There we found the body of Mrs Stanford in a sitting posture Her legs apparently had been broken Th There re rc was a deep cut along her head Sh She was wearing a red leather jacket khaki breeches brown flying boots black gloves and a green scarf was war twisted modishly about her throat She apparently had not moved so suddenly had come the disaster The place here the accident occurred occurred oc oe is considered b by pilots to be bethe bethe bethe the most dangerous in the nation for fliers It is wild and desolate desolate- known as Dublin's gap in gap in the Blue Ridge mountains Fir trees abound on every mountain and pass and underfoot underfoot un there is thick underbrush tangled with broken limbs and dead trees As we started out from Philadelphia Philadel phia this morning Lukens a veteran in flying over this region told me If they got over Sterrett's gap I can pick the spot where they crashed He flew direct to Dublin's gap Jap and there we found the broken plane on Sherman mountain State troopers trooper wrapped the bodies in m blankets and planned to take them into Harrisburg this afternoon Avia Aviatrix rix Feared Flight Mother Reveals HARRISBURG Pa Jan 7 t- t Mrs William Woerner of St. St Louis today told the Associated Press that her daughter Ruth Stewart did not want to make the flight which ended in disaster in the Pennsylvania mountains moun moun- Even after she was in her plane and it was all warmed up ready to start she told me Really mother I r dont don't like to take takeoff oft off in this weather er Cr Why cant can't we walt wait until it clears up Mrs Woerner said But she was vas persuaded by the other fliers to try It at any rate with the warning to keep close behind and everything e will be all right I S.- S. |