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Show Tragic Death Again Takes Toll; Three Are Killed In Crash of Plane Second Tragedy In Month Takes Lives of Two Men and Little Girl Not yet recovered from the shock of the dual death from drowning in Minersville reservoir May 27, the Milford populace popu-lace Monday evening- again were plunged into mourning by the most tragic accident in the history of the community when a locally owned Piper Cub plane crashed to the ground something over a mile northwest of the Milford airport. Carried to their death in the accident, with their bodies smashed almost beyond recognition, were Jack E. Neely, 43, Union Pacific railroad engineer, his daughtei-, Mary Lou, 10 ; and Stanley H. Vernon, 28, Union Pacific dispatcher, pilot and co-owner of the plane. The accident occurred Monday evening at 9:02, some four minutes after official sundown time for this section, both men's watches having been stopped at that time exactly. Pilot Vernon had landed only a short time before, after taking tak-ing his wife and five-year old daughter for one of the frequent rides they had taken together; and Mr. Neely and his daughter took the front seat just vacated by Mrs. Vernon and Linda Lee. Both of these, too, had taken rides in the plane before, 'both seeming to have enjoyed the experience. It is believed that the plane was headed for the field when something some-thing went wrong and it went into, a spin at an estimated 500-foot altitude and to the consternation of Mrs. Neely, Mrs. Vernon and the latter's daughter, who were parked at the airport, but quickly drove to the site of a dust cloud where the plane had crashed at an angle of some 90 degrees. First to arrive at the scene were F. S. Leany and other miners working at the Old Hickory mine, their attention having been drawn to the now-spinning plane after hearing two loud reports, presumed presum-ed to have been the breaking of the right wing, later investigation appearing to confirm-the idea of an invisible structural defect. V. Waddoups, local representative represen-tative of the Southern Utah mortuary, mortu-ary, and Ray Mills, here from Lynndyl, did yeoman service in getting the three broken bodies out from the wreckage a difficult and heart-breaking task. Not even the propeller had entered the ground, but the impact had driven the motor back into the cabin, which had been telescoped into a mere fraction of its length, with little space left for what had been three life-loving bodies just a few mtoments. before. There 'isn't a doubt that death came instantly to all three. The plane was one purchased jointly by Mr. Vernon and' Ben S. Hillman last August, from one of the first lots of planes offered by the government when the army air forces training program was curtailed. cur-tailed. All were guaranteed in first class condition when offered for sale and the one purchased locally had given good service until the fatal accident. Only three weeks previously, Mrs. Maxine Kesler Fillmore, 27, and Merlin Hanson, 31, both Milford Mil-ford people, though the latter was a former resident of Fillmore, were drowned in the Minersville reservoir. The body of Mrs. Fillmore Fill-more was recovered almost at once by her sister, Mrs. Mary Jane K. Edwards, third member of a boating party, but the body of Mr. Hanson was not recovered until nine days later. |
