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Oneida Plane Crash Victims Are IdentifiedRochester Flier One of Salvage Boat Brings Debris (o SurfaceIdentify of virtims of Friday Slight's Oneida Lake plane crash was announced today by Lt. Col. Harry P. Gallighcr, commandant of Syracuse Army Air Base, as salvage operations were begun fo remove the bulky wreckage from the lake bottom off Doris Point, a mile west of Constantin.Victims of the crash were:2d Lt. Robert Allen Raiser. 20. of Rural Route 3. Delphia. Ind.2d Lt. Gene Norman Meyer, 20, of 204 Orilin Drive, Dayton. 0.2d Lt. Gorge William Kelley. 24. of 172 Wallick Avenue, Rochester.Col. Galligher. announcing identity of the victims, said the three Air Corps odicers, members of a troop carrier command group based at the Matty dale Field, were on a routine training flight at the time of the accident.Theb ig twin-engined transport plumetted into the lake about 10:30;MAYOR THOMAS E. IHeP. M. Friday and exploded.Base officials said the bodies ofjOie Syracuse Army Air Base the three men would be shipped^30 referred in his announcement to their homes cither todav or to-jf° fhe crash of June 11 Oi a similai Itvpe plane at Gere’s Lock, in whichmorrow.Capt. HarryBest, State conser-|three pilots lost their lives.vation olhcer assisting military personnel at the scene, reported a State Department of Public Works derrick boat reached the scene by mid-morning and by noon had raised the tail section of the transport, a wing section and the landing gear.He said some difficulty was encountered because of the shallowness of the lake in that area. On Sand Bar, where the ship crashed, the water ranges from five to seven feet.The derrick boat draws 10 and one-half feet of water and with her powerful engines roaring, was “mushed into the sandy bed to get close enough io operate.The area where the salvage operations are being conducted has been closed to the public. It is one of the favorite fishing grounds along the north shore of the lake.Announcement that the plane did not explode before striking the water was made by Maj. Allan G. Carson, combat intelligence oliicerAf irhn ri no rrl n** rfrmtnMaj. Carson’s announcement said: “Contrary to some statements, neither the plane which crashed Friday night, nor the one which struck near Gere's Lock last Sunday night, exploded in the air. The established facts conclusively indi-h cate that, in the Oneida accident. L the explosion occurred after thejc plane had struck the surface of thejj lake, and that, in the Gere’s Lockb crash, if there was any explosion U whatever, it was minor in nature j and, again, occurred after the« plane had struck. The C-47A. as* well as its commercial prototype.the DC-3, is one of the safest, if not the safest of planes. To our knowledge, in the many millions of hours that this make and type of plane has been operated, none ever i1 has exploded in the air.”4 Injured in Crash On Lake Parkway Escape Serious HurtFour persons escaped serious in-s
Newspaper Details
Syracuse Herald Journal
Syracuse, New York, US
Mon, Jul 10, 1944
Page 3
Full Page
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NY, USA 09 Aug 2023
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