Northwest History. State History. Box 1. Accidents.

• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1938
• Subjects: plane crash; plane wreck; wreckage; Howard Nelson; instant death; Bridger mountains; Northwest Airlines; transport plane; safety belts; H.B. Landoe; Nick Mamer; D. Mackay; George E. Gardner; division superintendent; T.H. Marley; J.C. Nee; airway mechanician; R.L. Smith; Albert F. Olson; Northwest Airlines pilots; Dave Powell; W.E. Borgenheimer; Northwest; Pacific > History > 20th Century; United States > State History > Accidents > Northwest; Pacific; Bridger; Canada; Detroit; Duri; Gardner; Hudson; Hudson Bay; Levin; Mackay; Ner
• Online Access: http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/clipping/id/93466

When Plane Hit Ground 10 Died. When Plane Hit Ground 10 Died The coroner set the probable time of the crash at 3:07 (M. S. T.) by the hands of watches found in the wreogMge. He testified he found i a watch on the body of D. McKay of Winnipeg, Canada, that had stopped at 3:07.30, and a wrist watch, not on a body, that had • stopped at 3:07.07. r> 0 A 1f T T J Gave Report at 3:05. UOrOner bayS All had George E. Gardner of Spokane, r western division superintendent for Succumbed Before ,^e »ir »ne- was *«*j?«* t° the stand after having testified as to pi'rp StflrtpH tne passenger list and time of de- 1 11 c uuai icu. parture at Butte. He said the plane ■ had given a routine weather re- Bozeman, Mont Jan. 12. £>- f**"™ %£?$%* bK£ Coroner Howard Nelson testified not given Hs positionFat the time. tonight at an inquest into the others to testif duri the hear. deaths of 10 persons m the crash of; ■ inciuded Deputy Sheriff T. H. a Northwest Airlines transport Marley j. c. Nee_ airways mech- plane that all eight passengers and anician for the bureau of air corn- two pilots met instant death when merce> Helena; R. L. Smith of the airliner struck the ground m Minneapolis and Albert F. Olson the Bndger mountains near here. of Seattle, Northwest Airlines pi- "All the safety belts were lots; George E. Gardner of Spo- snapped, apparently by the terrific kan6( western division superintend- impact when the plane struck, and ent for the air ]me] and Dave Pow. in my opinion every one of the 10 eI1 of Detroit who was visiting at were dead before the plane burst a ranch near Bozeman. into flames, he testified. The inquest was called by Coro- Wreckage Not Scattered. ner Nelson as a "mere formality," Aside from Nelson's testimony, and questions concerning possible all told practically the same causes of the crash late Monday stones: That the wreckage was afternoon were not asked by Coun- not scattered to any exent, that ty Attorney H. B. Landoe, who con- it was still flaming or smoldering ducted the inquest. |when they arrived at the scene ah w„.,:i,i„ «„,„,>,i and that little remained of the All Horribly Burned. 'fuseiage in which seven of the 10 The coroner testified as to the bodies still lay. charred condition of the 10 bodies, During the inquest Nelson iden- and said all but the body of Pilot tified each of the 10 bodies. The Nick Mamer of Spokane, Wash., bo(jy 0f W. E. Borgenheimer of were horribly burned. Basin, Mont., was positively iden- "At first I did not believe it tified by the crash victim's widow would be possible to identify any of i while the inquest was in progress, the bodies," he said. "The cloth- The body of D. McKay of Winni- ing was burned from all of them, pegj Canada, had previously been, and arms or legs were completely tentatively identified, burned off several." Three of the victims were identi^ fied Tuesday, and five more this evening by relatives, who recognized bits of jewelry, belt buckles and other metal found when the bodies were taken from the twisted wreckage of the airliner, which crashed high in the Bridget mountains late Monday. The bodies were all charred beyond recognition by the flames which enveloped the craft when it struck the ground. Partial identification was made of the body of D. McKay of the; Hudson Bay company, Winnipeg, by a memorandum book found in the ashes of his clothing. Mrs. W. E. Borgenheimer of Basin, Mont., tentatively identified the body of her husband. Spokane Victim Identified. The five others, identified at the inquest, were Walter Ton, postof- fice inspector of St. Paul, Minn.; I. E. Stevenson, Seattle; Ted Anderson, St. Paul, mechanic for Northwest Airlines; Al H. Croonquist,' Billings, Mont., traffic manager for Montana for the Airlines, and G. A. Anderson, Spokane. The bodies of the three identified as they were removed. from the wreckage were Pilot Nick Mamer and Copilot F. W. West, both of Spokane, and Lloyd Levin of Detroit, identified by his brothers. Tonight's inquest, the coroner said, was to question witnesses "for the record" rather than to try to determine the exact cause of the Witnesses summoned included Glenn White and A. C. Larsen, ranchers who were chopping wood only 200 yards from the spot where the plane fell; Deputy Sheriff Tom Marley, one of the first peace officers to reach the scene, and A. D. Neimeyer of Seattle, bureau of air commerce inspector, in addition to postal inspectors and Northwest Airlines employees. At St. Paul, Minn., Croil Hunter, president of Northwest Airlines, announced that the company had grounded all planes of the same type "until we receive a final report of the qualified invest ieators."