Son of Bernice and Mamie Royal Bryant; he was a purchasing agent and a veteran of World War II.
Waskom, TX Air Crash, May 1953
Woman is Lone Survivor of Air Crash in Texas Fatal to 19
WASKOM, Tex. AP-- Investigators hoped today the lone survivor of an airliner crash which killed 19 persons might provide a clue to what caused the disaster.
Mrs. Hazel Cox, 81, was the only one to survive the crash of the Delta-Chicago and Southern DC-3 six miles west of here Sunday. She suffered multiple injuries and was in no condition to be questioned immediately.
The pilot, co-pilot and hostess and 16 passengers, including a two-months-old baby, were killed when the plane, en route from Dallas to Atlanta, crashed and exploded in a heavy rain and hail storm in a swampy pine forest.
Civil Aeronautics Authority and Civil Aeronautics Board investigators worked under searchlights early today to learn the cause of the accident.
The pilot had checked with the airport at Marshall, Tex., 20 miles west of where the plane crashed, and reported everything normal. He radioed the control tower at Shreveport, La., 20 miles east of where the crash occurred, about 16 minutes before the crash and asked for landing instructions.
The plane was scheduled to make a routine landing at Shreveport. The tower gave him the instructions but heard nothing more from the plane.
The DC-3 sheared the tops from trees for 300 or 400 yards. The part of the plane from the door to tail was not destroyed, but the rest burned to a skeleton.
Mrs. Cox was taken to Kahn Memorial hospital in Marshall with a broken leg and head injuries. Physicians said she may also have broken ribs.
She told Dr. Roger Harman that she woke from a nap as the plane clipped the tops of trees, rolling over and over.
"Mrs. Cox said she had fallen asleep--it was raining heavily," Harmon said. "When she woke up, the plane was going over and over. She was in a puddle with a man who was dying. She saw the flames . . . heard people screaming."
Her husband, Air Force S-Sgt. J.W. Cox of Panama City, Fla., had been sent to Jackson, Miss., en route to Camp Kilmer, N.J., from where he was to go overseas. Mrs. Cox was flying from Albuquerque, N. M., to Jackson for a final visit.
--
The Daily Register, Harrisburg, Illinois, 18 May 1953
Marshall, TX Airliner Crash Near Airport, May 1953
Posted December 9th, 2007 by Stu Beitler
ABILENE MOTHER, BABY DIE IN AIRLINER CRASH.
19 KILLED AS PLANE FALLS AT MARSHALL.
Marshall, Tex., May 17 (AP) -- A loaded Delta Airlines plane plunged to the ground 13 miles east of here this afternoon in a blinding thunderstorm, killing at least 19 persons.
MRS. J. W. COX of Panama City, Fla., was the only known survivor.
Two other persons were brought to the hospital here but died soon afterwards.
The two-motor DC3 was en route from Dallas to Shreveport and only six minutes flying time from the Shreveport field when it went down. A report from the pilot two minutes before the crash made no mention of trouble.
Heads Toward Storm.
Garland Clark, who lives near the Marshall Airport, said one motor on the plane was idle when it flew over at about 500 feet. He thought it was going to land at the Marshall airport, but instead it headed eastinto an approaching dark storm cloud.
MRS. COX said she did not know what happened.
"We ran into a terrific rainstorm and I dozed off," she said in the hospital here. "When I woke up the plane was turning over and over and everyone was screaming. The next thing I remember was coming to in a puddle of water with a dying man beside me."
Seriously Injured.
MRS. COX was in a semi-conscious condition with a serious head injury and a broken leg. Doctors said here she had a good chance to survive.
MRS. COX said she was en route to Jackson, Miss., to meet her husband who is in the Air Force. She said the couple planned to take a vacation in Florida before he was sent overseas.
In Atlanta the Delta-Chicago & Southern Airlines identified the baby as JESSE DAVID FINCHER, approximately 2 months old, son of MRS. R. H. FINCHER, who boarded in Abilene.
The airline also listed the names of 19 adults aboard.
One of the victims was the national president of the Pi Kappa Alpha social fraternity, HARVEY T. NEWELL, JR., of Meridian, Miss. NEWELL, about 39, was a vice president and general manager of the NEWELL Paper Co., and a director of the First National Bank of Meridian.
Harrison County Judge Paul W. Warren said there were 20 persons aboard the plane, including a small baby, and MRS. COX was the only survivor.
"I don't see how anyone survived," said Millard Cope, publisher of the Marshall News Messenger. "The wreckage was scattered all over that area. Apparently it did not catch fire afterwards. I've heard reports there was a explosion after the crash but I don't know."
The crash was about one mile off heavily traveled U. S. Highway 80, a few miles west of the Texas-Louisiana border.
The Rains and Talley Funeral Home in Marshall had 11 bodies and six more bodies were taken to another undertaker. There were reports some bodies were taken to Longview, Tex.
The Delta Airlines office in Dallas said the plane left Dallas at 1:10 p.m. It was en route to Shreveport, Monroe, La.; Jackson, Miss.; Birmingham, Ala.; and Atlanta, Ga. The plane last contacted the Shreveport tower at 2:14 p.m.
Abilenians Killed On Way To Georgia.
An Abilene woman and her baby son were killed in the airliner crash Sunday afternoon near Marshall.
They were MRS. ROBERT H. FINCHER, 19, whose husband is serving with the Air Force in England, and their son, JESSE DAVID, 2 months old.
MRS. FINCHER was the daughter of F. L. Johnson, 1620 Truman St., and MRS. John F. Daniel, 2909 Beech St.
They were en route to Atlanta, Ga., where MR. FINCHER'S parents live. MR. FINCHER had spent about a week with his wife and son after the child was born.
They took off from Tye Air Base about 11:15 a.m. Sunday ona Pioneer Airline plane, and had transferred to the Delta airliner in Dallas. Relatives here were notified of the tragedy in a long-distance telephone call shortly after the crash occurred.
MRS. FINCHER was born July 7, 1933, in Cross Plains. Reared in Abilene, she was a graduate of Abilene High School. She was the former Merlene Johnson.
Survivors in addition to the parents are two brothers, E. L. Johnson, 234 Westridge Dr., and Bobby Johnson, who is serving with the Marine Corps in Alaska.
Elliott's Funeral Home said Sunday night that the bodies of MRS. FINCHER and her son will be returned to Abilene late Monday.
AIRLINER'S PASSENGER LIST.
Atlanta, May 17 (AP) -- Delta-Chicago & Southern Air Lines said these persons were aboard the plane which crashed near Marshall, Tex., today:
L. F. RUSS, 62, 4220 Relclair, Dallas.
VICTOR GOLDBERG, 50, Monroe, La.
L. L. KILPATRICK, Lake Providence, La.
HARVEY T. NEWELL, JR., 43, Meridian, Miss.
RAY W. ADAMS, 61, 7023 Vivian, Dallas.
Lt. Col. JACK M. ROGERS, 37, 3727 Mattison, Fort Worth, Tex.
Lt. Col. JOHN T. CRETORS, Warner Robins, Ga.
MRS. ROBERT H. FINCHER, 19, Atlanta, Ga.
JESSE DAVID FINCHER, 2 months old, Atlanta, Ga.
ROBERT B. KENTY, 45, 8723 Canyon Drive, Dallas.
FOY E. BRYANT, 34, Dallas.
L. R. MURPHY, Macon, Ga.
Capt. DOUGLAS VOLK, 33, pilot, Atlanta, Ga.
Co-pilot JAMES P. STEWART, 33, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Stewardess JO ANNE CARLSON, 25, 7742 South Shore Drive, Chicago.
LILLIAN HORTON, Talledega, Ala.
The bodies of three women were still not identified, but JAMES H. COBB, Delta-C. & S. public information director, said these women were on the passenger list:
MISS. BETTY RODDY, 25, Monroe, La.
MRS. BARBARA JEAN LEIDY, 32, a court reporter, Patchogue, N.Y.
MISS. GERALDINE HUDSON, 22, Dayton Mills, S.C.
The Abilene Reporter News Texas 1953-05-18
Waskom, TX Air Crash, May 1953
Woman is Lone Survivor of Air Crash in Texas Fatal to 19
WASKOM, Tex. AP-- Investigators hoped today the lone survivor of an airliner crash which killed 19 persons might provide a clue to what caused the disaster.
Mrs. Hazel Cox, 81, was the only one to survive the crash of the Delta-Chicago and Southern DC-3 six miles west of here Sunday. She suffered multiple injuries and was in no condition to be questioned immediately.
The pilot, co-pilot and hostess and 16 passengers, including a two-months-old baby, were killed when the plane, en route from Dallas to Atlanta, crashed and exploded in a heavy rain and hail storm in a swampy pine forest.
Civil Aeronautics Authority and Civil Aeronautics Board investigators worked under searchlights early today to learn the cause of the accident.
The pilot had checked with the airport at Marshall, Tex., 20 miles west of where the plane crashed, and reported everything normal. He radioed the control tower at Shreveport, La., 20 miles east of where the crash occurred, about 16 minutes before the crash and asked for landing instructions.
The plane was scheduled to make a routine landing at Shreveport. The tower gave him the instructions but heard nothing more from the plane.
The DC-3 sheared the tops from trees for 300 or 400 yards. The part of the plane from the door to tail was not destroyed, but the rest burned to a skeleton.
Mrs. Cox was taken to Kahn Memorial hospital in Marshall with a broken leg and head injuries. Physicians said she may also have broken ribs.
She told Dr. Roger Harman that she woke from a nap as the plane clipped the tops of trees, rolling over and over.
"Mrs. Cox said she had fallen asleep--it was raining heavily," Harmon said. "When she woke up, the plane was going over and over. She was in a puddle with a man who was dying. She saw the flames . . . heard people screaming."
Her husband, Air Force S-Sgt. J.W. Cox of Panama City, Fla., had been sent to Jackson, Miss., en route to Camp Kilmer, N.J., from where he was to go overseas. Mrs. Cox was flying from Albuquerque, N. M., to Jackson for a final visit.
--
The Daily Register, Harrisburg, Illinois, 18 May 1953
Marshall, TX Airliner Crash Near Airport, May 1953
Posted December 9th, 2007 by Stu Beitler
ABILENE MOTHER, BABY DIE IN AIRLINER CRASH.
19 KILLED AS PLANE FALLS AT MARSHALL.
Marshall, Tex., May 17 (AP) -- A loaded Delta Airlines plane plunged to the ground 13 miles east of here this afternoon in a blinding thunderstorm, killing at least 19 persons.
MRS. J. W. COX of Panama City, Fla., was the only known survivor.
Two other persons were brought to the hospital here but died soon afterwards.
The two-motor DC3 was en route from Dallas to Shreveport and only six minutes flying time from the Shreveport field when it went down. A report from the pilot two minutes before the crash made no mention of trouble.
Heads Toward Storm.
Garland Clark, who lives near the Marshall Airport, said one motor on the plane was idle when it flew over at about 500 feet. He thought it was going to land at the Marshall airport, but instead it headed eastinto an approaching dark storm cloud.
MRS. COX said she did not know what happened.
"We ran into a terrific rainstorm and I dozed off," she said in the hospital here. "When I woke up the plane was turning over and over and everyone was screaming. The next thing I remember was coming to in a puddle of water with a dying man beside me."
Seriously Injured.
MRS. COX was in a semi-conscious condition with a serious head injury and a broken leg. Doctors said here she had a good chance to survive.
MRS. COX said she was en route to Jackson, Miss., to meet her husband who is in the Air Force. She said the couple planned to take a vacation in Florida before he was sent overseas.
In Atlanta the Delta-Chicago & Southern Airlines identified the baby as JESSE DAVID FINCHER, approximately 2 months old, son of MRS. R. H. FINCHER, who boarded in Abilene.
The airline also listed the names of 19 adults aboard.
One of the victims was the national president of the Pi Kappa Alpha social fraternity, HARVEY T. NEWELL, JR., of Meridian, Miss. NEWELL, about 39, was a vice president and general manager of the NEWELL Paper Co., and a director of the First National Bank of Meridian.
Harrison County Judge Paul W. Warren said there were 20 persons aboard the plane, including a small baby, and MRS. COX was the only survivor.
"I don't see how anyone survived," said Millard Cope, publisher of the Marshall News Messenger. "The wreckage was scattered all over that area. Apparently it did not catch fire afterwards. I've heard reports there was a explosion after the crash but I don't know."
The crash was about one mile off heavily traveled U. S. Highway 80, a few miles west of the Texas-Louisiana border.
The Rains and Talley Funeral Home in Marshall had 11 bodies and six more bodies were taken to another undertaker. There were reports some bodies were taken to Longview, Tex.
The Delta Airlines office in Dallas said the plane left Dallas at 1:10 p.m. It was en route to Shreveport, Monroe, La.; Jackson, Miss.; Birmingham, Ala.; and Atlanta, Ga. The plane last contacted the Shreveport tower at 2:14 p.m.
Abilenians Killed On Way To Georgia.
An Abilene woman and her baby son were killed in the airliner crash Sunday afternoon near Marshall.
They were MRS. ROBERT H. FINCHER, 19, whose husband is serving with the Air Force in England, and their son, JESSE DAVID, 2 months old.
MRS. FINCHER was the daughter of F. L. Johnson, 1620 Truman St., and MRS. John F. Daniel, 2909 Beech St.
They were en route to Atlanta, Ga., where MR. FINCHER'S parents live. MR. FINCHER had spent about a week with his wife and son after the child was born.
They took off from Tye Air Base about 11:15 a.m. Sunday ona Pioneer Airline plane, and had transferred to the Delta airliner in Dallas. Relatives here were notified of the tragedy in a long-distance telephone call shortly after the crash occurred.
MRS. FINCHER was born July 7, 1933, in Cross Plains. Reared in Abilene, she was a graduate of Abilene High School. She was the former Merlene Johnson.
Survivors in addition to the parents are two brothers, E. L. Johnson, 234 Westridge Dr., and Bobby Johnson, who is serving with the Marine Corps in Alaska.
Elliott's Funeral Home said Sunday night that the bodies of MRS. FINCHER and her son will be returned to Abilene late Monday.
AIRLINER'S PASSENGER LIST.
Atlanta, May 17 (AP) -- Delta-Chicago & Southern Air Lines said these persons were aboard the plane which crashed near Marshall, Tex., today:
L. F. RUSS, 62, 4220 Relclair, Dallas.
VICTOR GOLDBERG, 50, Monroe, La.
L. L. KILPATRICK, Lake Providence, La.
HARVEY T. NEWELL, JR., 43, Meridian, Miss.
RAY W. ADAMS, 61, 7023 Vivian, Dallas.
Lt. Col. JACK M. ROGERS, 37, 3727 Mattison, Fort Worth, Tex.
Lt. Col. JOHN T. CRETORS, Warner Robins, Ga.
MRS. ROBERT H. FINCHER, 19, Atlanta, Ga.
JESSE DAVID FINCHER, 2 months old, Atlanta, Ga.
ROBERT B. KENTY, 45, 8723 Canyon Drive, Dallas.
FOY E. BRYANT, 34, Dallas.
L. R. MURPHY, Macon, Ga.
Capt. DOUGLAS VOLK, 33, pilot, Atlanta, Ga.
Co-pilot JAMES P. STEWART, 33, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Stewardess JO ANNE CARLSON, 25, 7742 South Shore Drive, Chicago.
LILLIAN HORTON, Talledega, Ala.
The bodies of three women were still not identified, but JAMES H. COBB, Delta-C. & S. public information director, said these women were on the passenger list:
MISS. BETTY RODDY, 25, Monroe, La.
MRS. BARBARA JEAN LEIDY, 32, a court reporter, Patchogue, N.Y.
MISS. GERALDINE HUDSON, 22, Dayton Mills, S.C.
The Abilene Reporter News Texas 1953-05-18
Son of Bernice and Mamie Royal Bryant; he was a purchasing agent and a veteran of World War II.
Waskom, TX Air Crash, May 1953
Woman is Lone Survivor of Air Crash in Texas Fatal to 19
WASKOM, Tex. AP-- Investigators hoped today the lone survivor of an airliner crash which killed 19 persons might provide a clue to what caused the disaster.
Mrs. Hazel Cox, 81, was the only one to survive the crash of the Delta-Chicago and Southern DC-3 six miles west of here Sunday. She suffered multiple injuries and was in no condition to be questioned immediately.
The pilot, co-pilot and hostess and 16 passengers, including a two-months-old baby, were killed when the plane, en route from Dallas to Atlanta, crashed and exploded in a heavy rain and hail storm in a swampy pine forest.
Civil Aeronautics Authority and Civil Aeronautics Board investigators worked under searchlights early today to learn the cause of the accident.
The pilot had checked with the airport at Marshall, Tex., 20 miles west of where the plane crashed, and reported everything normal. He radioed the control tower at Shreveport, La., 20 miles east of where the crash occurred, about 16 minutes before the crash and asked for landing instructions.
The plane was scheduled to make a routine landing at Shreveport. The tower gave him the instructions but heard nothing more from the plane.
The DC-3 sheared the tops from trees for 300 or 400 yards. The part of the plane from the door to tail was not destroyed, but the rest burned to a skeleton.
Mrs. Cox was taken to Kahn Memorial hospital in Marshall with a broken leg and head injuries. Physicians said she may also have broken ribs.
She told Dr. Roger Harman that she woke from a nap as the plane clipped the tops of trees, rolling over and over.
"Mrs. Cox said she had fallen asleep--it was raining heavily," Harmon said. "When she woke up, the plane was going over and over. She was in a puddle with a man who was dying. She saw the flames . . . heard people screaming."
Her husband, Air Force S-Sgt. J.W. Cox of Panama City, Fla., had been sent to Jackson, Miss., en route to Camp Kilmer, N.J., from where he was to go overseas. Mrs. Cox was flying from Albuquerque, N. M., to Jackson for a final visit.
--
The Daily Register, Harrisburg, Illinois, 18 May 1953
Marshall, TX Airliner Crash Near Airport, May 1953
Posted December 9th, 2007 by Stu Beitler
ABILENE MOTHER, BABY DIE IN AIRLINER CRASH.
19 KILLED AS PLANE FALLS AT MARSHALL.
Marshall, Tex., May 17 (AP) -- A loaded Delta Airlines plane plunged to the ground 13 miles east of here this afternoon in a blinding thunderstorm, killing at least 19 persons.
MRS. J. W. COX of Panama City, Fla., was the only known survivor.
Two other persons were brought to the hospital here but died soon afterwards.
The two-motor DC3 was en route from Dallas to Shreveport and only six minutes flying time from the Shreveport field when it went down. A report from the pilot two minutes before the crash made no mention of trouble.
Heads Toward Storm.
Garland Clark, who lives near the Marshall Airport, said one motor on the plane was idle when it flew over at about 500 feet. He thought it was going to land at the Marshall airport, but instead it headed eastinto an approaching dark storm cloud.
MRS. COX said she did not know what happened.
"We ran into a terrific rainstorm and I dozed off," she said in the hospital here. "When I woke up the plane was turning over and over and everyone was screaming. The next thing I remember was coming to in a puddle of water with a dying man beside me."
Seriously Injured.
MRS. COX was in a semi-conscious condition with a serious head injury and a broken leg. Doctors said here she had a good chance to survive.
MRS. COX said she was en route to Jackson, Miss., to meet her husband who is in the Air Force. She said the couple planned to take a vacation in Florida before he was sent overseas.
In Atlanta the Delta-Chicago & Southern Airlines identified the baby as JESSE DAVID FINCHER, approximately 2 months old, son of MRS. R. H. FINCHER, who boarded in Abilene.
The airline also listed the names of 19 adults aboard.
One of the victims was the national president of the Pi Kappa Alpha social fraternity, HARVEY T. NEWELL, JR., of Meridian, Miss. NEWELL, about 39, was a vice president and general manager of the NEWELL Paper Co., and a director of the First National Bank of Meridian.
Harrison County Judge Paul W. Warren said there were 20 persons aboard the plane, including a small baby, and MRS. COX was the only survivor.
"I don't see how anyone survived," said Millard Cope, publisher of the Marshall News Messenger. "The wreckage was scattered all over that area. Apparently it did not catch fire afterwards. I've heard reports there was a explosion after the crash but I don't know."
The crash was about one mile off heavily traveled U. S. Highway 80, a few miles west of the Texas-Louisiana border.
The Rains and Talley Funeral Home in Marshall had 11 bodies and six more bodies were taken to another undertaker. There were reports some bodies were taken to Longview, Tex.
The Delta Airlines office in Dallas said the plane left Dallas at 1:10 p.m. It was en route to Shreveport, Monroe, La.; Jackson, Miss.; Birmingham, Ala.; and Atlanta, Ga. The plane last contacted the Shreveport tower at 2:14 p.m.
Abilenians Killed On Way To Georgia.
An Abilene woman and her baby son were killed in the airliner crash Sunday afternoon near Marshall.
They were MRS. ROBERT H. FINCHER, 19, whose husband is serving with the Air Force in England, and their son, JESSE DAVID, 2 months old.
MRS. FINCHER was the daughter of F. L. Johnson, 1620 Truman St., and MRS. John F. Daniel, 2909 Beech St.
They were en route to Atlanta, Ga., where MR. FINCHER'S parents live. MR. FINCHER had spent about a week with his wife and son after the child was born.
They took off from Tye Air Base about 11:15 a.m. Sunday ona Pioneer Airline plane, and had transferred to the Delta airliner in Dallas. Relatives here were notified of the tragedy in a long-distance telephone call shortly after the crash occurred.
MRS. FINCHER was born July 7, 1933, in Cross Plains. Reared in Abilene, she was a graduate of Abilene High School. She was the former Merlene Johnson.
Survivors in addition to the parents are two brothers, E. L. Johnson, 234 Westridge Dr., and Bobby Johnson, who is serving with the Marine Corps in Alaska.
Elliott's Funeral Home said Sunday night that the bodies of MRS. FINCHER and her son will be returned to Abilene late Monday.
AIRLINER'S PASSENGER LIST.
Atlanta, May 17 (AP) -- Delta-Chicago & Southern Air Lines said these persons were aboard the plane which crashed near Marshall, Tex., today:
L. F. RUSS, 62, 4220 Relclair, Dallas.
VICTOR GOLDBERG, 50, Monroe, La.
L. L. KILPATRICK, Lake Providence, La.
HARVEY T. NEWELL, JR., 43, Meridian, Miss.
RAY W. ADAMS, 61, 7023 Vivian, Dallas.
Lt. Col. JACK M. ROGERS, 37, 3727 Mattison, Fort Worth, Tex.
Lt. Col. JOHN T. CRETORS, Warner Robins, Ga.
MRS. ROBERT H. FINCHER, 19, Atlanta, Ga.
JESSE DAVID FINCHER, 2 months old, Atlanta, Ga.
ROBERT B. KENTY, 45, 8723 Canyon Drive, Dallas.
FOY E. BRYANT, 34, Dallas.
L. R. MURPHY, Macon, Ga.
Capt. DOUGLAS VOLK, 33, pilot, Atlanta, Ga.
Co-pilot JAMES P. STEWART, 33, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Stewardess JO ANNE CARLSON, 25, 7742 South Shore Drive, Chicago.
LILLIAN HORTON, Talledega, Ala.
The bodies of three women were still not identified, but JAMES H. COBB, Delta-C. & S. public information director, said these women were on the passenger list:
MISS. BETTY RODDY, 25, Monroe, La.
MRS. BARBARA JEAN LEIDY, 32, a court reporter, Patchogue, N.Y.
MISS. GERALDINE HUDSON, 22, Dayton Mills, S.C.
The Abilene Reporter News Texas 1953-05-18
Waskom, TX Air Crash, May 1953
Woman is Lone Survivor of Air Crash in Texas Fatal to 19
WASKOM, Tex. AP-- Investigators hoped today the lone survivor of an airliner crash which killed 19 persons might provide a clue to what caused the disaster.
Mrs. Hazel Cox, 81, was the only one to survive the crash of the Delta-Chicago and Southern DC-3 six miles west of here Sunday. She suffered multiple injuries and was in no condition to be questioned immediately.
The pilot, co-pilot and hostess and 16 passengers, including a two-months-old baby, were killed when the plane, en route from Dallas to Atlanta, crashed and exploded in a heavy rain and hail storm in a swampy pine forest.
Civil Aeronautics Authority and Civil Aeronautics Board investigators worked under searchlights early today to learn the cause of the accident.
The pilot had checked with the airport at Marshall, Tex., 20 miles west of where the plane crashed, and reported everything normal. He radioed the control tower at Shreveport, La., 20 miles east of where the crash occurred, about 16 minutes before the crash and asked for landing instructions.
The plane was scheduled to make a routine landing at Shreveport. The tower gave him the instructions but heard nothing more from the plane.
The DC-3 sheared the tops from trees for 300 or 400 yards. The part of the plane from the door to tail was not destroyed, but the rest burned to a skeleton.
Mrs. Cox was taken to Kahn Memorial hospital in Marshall with a broken leg and head injuries. Physicians said she may also have broken ribs.
She told Dr. Roger Harman that she woke from a nap as the plane clipped the tops of trees, rolling over and over.
"Mrs. Cox said she had fallen asleep--it was raining heavily," Harmon said. "When she woke up, the plane was going over and over. She was in a puddle with a man who was dying. She saw the flames . . . heard people screaming."
Her husband, Air Force S-Sgt. J.W. Cox of Panama City, Fla., had been sent to Jackson, Miss., en route to Camp Kilmer, N.J., from where he was to go overseas. Mrs. Cox was flying from Albuquerque, N. M., to Jackson for a final visit.
--
The Daily Register, Harrisburg, Illinois, 18 May 1953
Marshall, TX Airliner Crash Near Airport, May 1953
Posted December 9th, 2007 by Stu Beitler
ABILENE MOTHER, BABY DIE IN AIRLINER CRASH.
19 KILLED AS PLANE FALLS AT MARSHALL.
Marshall, Tex., May 17 (AP) -- A loaded Delta Airlines plane plunged to the ground 13 miles east of here this afternoon in a blinding thunderstorm, killing at least 19 persons.
MRS. J. W. COX of Panama City, Fla., was the only known survivor.
Two other persons were brought to the hospital here but died soon afterwards.
The two-motor DC3 was en route from Dallas to Shreveport and only six minutes flying time from the Shreveport field when it went down. A report from the pilot two minutes before the crash made no mention of trouble.
Heads Toward Storm.
Garland Clark, who lives near the Marshall Airport, said one motor on the plane was idle when it flew over at about 500 feet. He thought it was going to land at the Marshall airport, but instead it headed eastinto an approaching dark storm cloud.
MRS. COX said she did not know what happened.
"We ran into a terrific rainstorm and I dozed off," she said in the hospital here. "When I woke up the plane was turning over and over and everyone was screaming. The next thing I remember was coming to in a puddle of water with a dying man beside me."
Seriously Injured.
MRS. COX was in a semi-conscious condition with a serious head injury and a broken leg. Doctors said here she had a good chance to survive.
MRS. COX said she was en route to Jackson, Miss., to meet her husband who is in the Air Force. She said the couple planned to take a vacation in Florida before he was sent overseas.
In Atlanta the Delta-Chicago & Southern Airlines identified the baby as JESSE DAVID FINCHER, approximately 2 months old, son of MRS. R. H. FINCHER, who boarded in Abilene.
The airline also listed the names of 19 adults aboard.
One of the victims was the national president of the Pi Kappa Alpha social fraternity, HARVEY T. NEWELL, JR., of Meridian, Miss. NEWELL, about 39, was a vice president and general manager of the NEWELL Paper Co., and a director of the First National Bank of Meridian.
Harrison County Judge Paul W. Warren said there were 20 persons aboard the plane, including a small baby, and MRS. COX was the only survivor.
"I don't see how anyone survived," said Millard Cope, publisher of the Marshall News Messenger. "The wreckage was scattered all over that area. Apparently it did not catch fire afterwards. I've heard reports there was a explosion after the crash but I don't know."
The crash was about one mile off heavily traveled U. S. Highway 80, a few miles west of the Texas-Louisiana border.
The Rains and Talley Funeral Home in Marshall had 11 bodies and six more bodies were taken to another undertaker. There were reports some bodies were taken to Longview, Tex.
The Delta Airlines office in Dallas said the plane left Dallas at 1:10 p.m. It was en route to Shreveport, Monroe, La.; Jackson, Miss.; Birmingham, Ala.; and Atlanta, Ga. The plane last contacted the Shreveport tower at 2:14 p.m.
Abilenians Killed On Way To Georgia.
An Abilene woman and her baby son were killed in the airliner crash Sunday afternoon near Marshall.
They were MRS. ROBERT H. FINCHER, 19, whose husband is serving with the Air Force in England, and their son, JESSE DAVID, 2 months old.
MRS. FINCHER was the daughter of F. L. Johnson, 1620 Truman St., and MRS. John F. Daniel, 2909 Beech St.
They were en route to Atlanta, Ga., where MR. FINCHER'S parents live. MR. FINCHER had spent about a week with his wife and son after the child was born.
They took off from Tye Air Base about 11:15 a.m. Sunday ona Pioneer Airline plane, and had transferred to the Delta airliner in Dallas. Relatives here were notified of the tragedy in a long-distance telephone call shortly after the crash occurred.
MRS. FINCHER was born July 7, 1933, in Cross Plains. Reared in Abilene, she was a graduate of Abilene High School. She was the former Merlene Johnson.
Survivors in addition to the parents are two brothers, E. L. Johnson, 234 Westridge Dr., and Bobby Johnson, who is serving with the Marine Corps in Alaska.
Elliott's Funeral Home said Sunday night that the bodies of MRS. FINCHER and her son will be returned to Abilene late Monday.
AIRLINER'S PASSENGER LIST.
Atlanta, May 17 (AP) -- Delta-Chicago & Southern Air Lines said these persons were aboard the plane which crashed near Marshall, Tex., today:
L. F. RUSS, 62, 4220 Relclair, Dallas.
VICTOR GOLDBERG, 50, Monroe, La.
L. L. KILPATRICK, Lake Providence, La.
HARVEY T. NEWELL, JR., 43, Meridian, Miss.
RAY W. ADAMS, 61, 7023 Vivian, Dallas.
Lt. Col. JACK M. ROGERS, 37, 3727 Mattison, Fort Worth, Tex.
Lt. Col. JOHN T. CRETORS, Warner Robins, Ga.
MRS. ROBERT H. FINCHER, 19, Atlanta, Ga.
JESSE DAVID FINCHER, 2 months old, Atlanta, Ga.
ROBERT B. KENTY, 45, 8723 Canyon Drive, Dallas.
FOY E. BRYANT, 34, Dallas.
L. R. MURPHY, Macon, Ga.
Capt. DOUGLAS VOLK, 33, pilot, Atlanta, Ga.
Co-pilot JAMES P. STEWART, 33, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Stewardess JO ANNE CARLSON, 25, 7742 South Shore Drive, Chicago.
LILLIAN HORTON, Talledega, Ala.
The bodies of three women were still not identified, but JAMES H. COBB, Delta-C. & S. public information director, said these women were on the passenger list:
MISS. BETTY RODDY, 25, Monroe, La.
MRS. BARBARA JEAN LEIDY, 32, a court reporter, Patchogue, N.Y.
MISS. GERALDINE HUDSON, 22, Dayton Mills, S.C.
The Abilene Reporter News Texas 1953-05-18
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
