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SAN JUAN, P.R. (API) — The bodies of eight airmen who died in a fiery crash in the re mote mountains of eastern Puero Rico will be sent to Youngstown, Ohio, for positive identification, the U.S. Navy said. A Navy spokesman said the bodies, which were recovered Monday from the wreckage of their Air Force C119, were so badly burned and mutilated they will require matching of their dental records for identi fication. Because of the condition of the bodies, it took hours to de termine whether all eight per sons aboard the twin-engine cargo plane had actually been found, he said. The eigth airmen were at tached to the 910th Tactical Air Wing at Youngstown. All were from Ohio and Pennsylvania. An eight-man team from Langley Air Force Base, Va., arrived at the scene of the wreckage — in dense jungle four miles from the nearest road — to begin a complete in vestigation of the crash. However, the Navy spokes man said preliminary investiga tion indicated the plane had had either a radio or electrical failure just after takeoff Satur day from Roosevelt Roads Na val Air Station on Puerto Rico’s east coast. The pilot apparently was at tempting to return to the base when the plane rammed into the side of a mountain and burst into flames, the spokes man said. The spokesman said the ceil ing was very low and the pilot probably was staying under the clouds — unaware that the mountains in that area rise abruptly to almost 4,000 feet— in an effort to spot the airfield. The plane crashed in the southeast corner of a jungle known as Luquillo National For est, or more popularly El Yunque Park. The Navy said the plane cut a 75-yard long swath through the jungle. The area was cordoned off to ‘day by Marines, and reporters and photographers were exclud ed until the bodies could be re moved. They were brought to Rodri guez Army Hospital in San Juan to await shipment to Youngstown. The Air Force earlier listed those aboard the plane as Maj. John H. Blazer, of Beaver Falls, Pa., commander of the plane; Capt. Frank E. Plate nak, of Youngstown, the co pilot; Capt. Ivan Bechtel, War ren, Ohio, navigator; Lt. Col. Phillip W. Mahoney, Eric Pa., navigator; S. Sgt. Hershel W. Clark, of Warren, flight engi neer; S. Sgt. Billie G. Kropp, Mercer, Pa., engineer; Sgt. Martin A. Breckner, Youngs town, loadmaster, and Sgt. Har ry L. Murray Jr., of Fredonia, Pa.
Newspaper Details
Bucks County Courier Times
Levittown, Pennsylvania, US
Wed, Dec 18, 1968
Page 114
Full Page
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Rachel M.
USA 20 Jul 2026
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