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Burlington Free
BURLINGTON, VERMONT, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1948


Pilot Who Crashed Colonial Airlines Plane Here Sept. 20
Admits He Came Into Field 'Little High, Little Fast'

Capt. Burke Tells CAB at Hearing Runway Was Wet, Slippery, So DC-3 Plane Skidded

In a public hearing held yesterday at Oak Ledge Manor before investigators of the Civil Aeronautics Board, both pilot and co-pilot testified that their Colonial Airlines DC-3 plane which crashed here Sept. 20 might have been brought in for a landing "a little high and a little fast."

Nevertheless, both pilots testified they thought the ship could have been landed safely had it not been that the runway was wet and slippery. The plane skidded and did not slacken speed sufficiently, the pilot, Capt. Richard Burke, said, so he decided to "give her the gun and take off again." The plane did not rise sufficiently, hitting the ground of the north end of the north-south runway and then the left wing struck some brush and small trees as it came to a stop.

Thirty Witnesses Heard

Before the hearing was concluded about 8 last night about 30 witnesses had given testimony. The presiding officer was Robert W. Chrisp, chief of the Hearing Division of the CAB. Others on the board were Joseph O. Fluet, chief investigator of Region I, CAB; George M. French, meteorological specialist of the CAB; Leon H. Tanguay and Robert D. Cassell, CAB investigators.

In addition to the pilot and co-pilot, Edward Nowak, some of the others who were called as witnesses were: Pauline Howe of Jackson Heights, N.Y., plane's stewardess; Branch Dykes, vice-president in change of operations of Colonial Airways; Stanley Kent, dispatcher; James Reinke, flight superintendent of both Colonial Airways; several weather bureau officials, and several workmen who were witnesses of the crash. Statements by several of the plane's passengers were read.

No Decision Reached

Chrisp indicated no decision or announcement would be made in the matter until after the testimony has been transcribed and studied.

Burke, after giving the details of the trip from Montreal to the time the sighted the local field, said that the weather was bad and that "apparently the approach was a little higher than the ideal approach for this particular runway." He added: "However, I had no hesitation about continuing the landing.

"I leveled off and touched down just past the intersection of the east-west runway and remember seeing the air speed falling through 80 miles per hour before ground contact.

'I immediately applied the brakes. Not getting the deceleration I expected, I jammed the pedals down appreciably. However, the speed had not fallen off enough to convince me that further braking would bring about an increasingly rapid declaration. I released and depressed the brake pedals fully at least twice more, and while the speed was somewhat reduced by this time it became obvious that deceleration was too slow to stop the aircraft before reaching the end of the runway.

Tried to Take Of

'The end of the runway was too close, and because of the speed with which the airplane was consuming the remaining runway, I thought my only chance to avert a crash was to get back into the air.

"I applied full throttle and called for 'up gear.' The ship left the ground and began mushing toward the trees at the north edge of the field. Just before impact I throttled back completely and from the cockpit it appeared that the left wing struck the trees, turning the nose to the left and the airplane continued this 'crabbed' fashion for a short distance and the stopped."

Capt. Burke admitted on questioning by Chairman Chrisp that the ship was brought in "a little high and a little fast" but said he thought he could bring it down safely. He said he could not understand why the brakes did not stop the plane soon enough.

Burke said he had never had any similar trouble before on the local airport.

A considerable number of questions were asked concerning the condition of the plane. Burke said the brakes were tested at Montreal while taxiing on the field there before the start of the flight.

Nowak Agrees

Co-pilot Nowak's testimony corroborated that of the pilot with respect to the important details of the accident.

B.T. Dykes, Colonial vice-resident in charge of operations, gave histories and working records of the three members of the crew who were on the flight at the time of accident. These records indicated both pilots had completed many hours in the air. Burke, in addition to a long army record in flying, has flown 1,600 hours as a co-pilot and 900 hours as a pilot of Colonial, Dyke said. Nowak has flown 1,500 hours as a co-pilot.

The stewardess, who was hospitalized for five days after the crash, has flown 725 hours in the employ of Colonial.