THE POST STANDARD, SYRACUSE, N.Y. JULY 17, 1944

CRAFT CRACKS UP ON LEROY FARM NEAR CORTLAND

Five officers and enlisted men from the Syracuse Army Air Base escaped serious injuries when a C-47 transport plane crashed and burned at 2:02 p.m. yesterday on the farm of Earl J. LeRoy, a quarter-mile west of Cortland airport on the Cortland-Groton rd. One of the enlisted men suffered a cut on his arm, which was treated by a passing physician before the young airman was brought to the base hospital here.

A Guernsey cow standing in the field was struck and torn to pieces as the big aircraft plunged downward and plowed thru two chicken houses on the LeRoy farm. Lt. Col. Harry P. Galligher, commandant of the air base here identified the crew members as:

CREW MEMBERS IDENTIFIED

Home addresses were not available, altho it was reported none of the crew lived in this area. According to reports from Cortland the C-47 had just taken off from Cortland airport and was trying to gain altitude when a puff of smoke was seen as the big plane nosed downward in a gradual glide. With the pilot apparently trying to make a crash landing in the LeRoy field, which is bordered by the Cortland-Groton rd., the transport hit the roofs of the chicken houses, which were flattened by the impact, and then plowed into the cow as it crashed.

Altho dazed by the severity of the crash, "belly" landing, the crew was able to scramble out of the aircraft before it burst into roaring flames which almost totally destroyed the plane.

WITNESSES QUESTIONED

Three men who observed the transport as it took off from the airport and before it crashed were District Attorney Philip M. Smith, James Ludwig, a brother-in-law of Smith's, and Pvt. William Tobin, home on furlo from Boise, Idaho. They were questioned by army intelligence officers. Fire departments from Cortland and Homer answered a call, but were unable to save the craft due to the absence of water in the field for pumping purposes. This was the first accident in Cortland area since C-47s from Syracuse Air Base began using the Cortland airport last week for daily training purposes in flights between Syracuse and Cortland.

CORTLAND STANDARD

CORTLAND, N.Y., MONDAY EVENING, JULY 17, 1944

ONE HURT, FOUR ESCAPE AS PLANE BURNS AT PORT

C-47 ARMY PLANE IS WRECKED AS IT TRIES TO TAKEOFF

SARGENT SUFFERS CUT ON ARM AS PLANE DISINTEGRATES NEAR PORT

ESCAPE IS MIRACULOUS

LARGE CROWD ASSEMBLES WHEN FIRE TRACK SIRENS AND SMOKE ATTRACT ATTENTION

One man received minor injuries and four others were apparently unharmed when they made their miraculous escape from a C-47 transport plane, shortly before it caught fire, yesterday, following a crash landing on the farm of Earl J. LeRoy, a quarter-mile west of Cortland Airport on the Cortland Groton road.

An enlisted man was the only member of the C-47 crew comprising two officers and three enlisted men from Syracuse Army Air Base, to be treated for injuries. Sergt. B. Kielpopf received a slight cut on his arm, which was bandaged by a Cortland physician before the young airman returned to the Syracuse base hospital.

James Ludwig, a brother-in-law of District Attorney Phillip M. Smith, and Pvt. William Tobin, home on furlough from Boise, Ia., pulled the injured Kielpopf from the demolished plane. Ludwig and tobin, together with District Attorney Smith, witnessed the crash from Smith's yard, directly opposite the point where the crash occurred.

A guernsey cow standing in the field was struck and killed instantly as the plane failed to gain altitude and plowed through a chicken house, stopping just a few yards short of a barn on the LeRoy farm. Some of the spectators, witnessing the crash said they saw that the right motor was on fire, but those familiar with planes discounted this saying that it might have been backfire from the exhaust which was seen.

According to reports from people witnessing the accident the plane attempted to make a takeoff but failed to gain altitude. The wheels had just left the ground when a puff of smoke was seen as the big plane nosed downward in a gradual glide. The right propeller was lost when the plane evidently hit the ground the first time, and arose again a few feet in the air. With the pilot apparently trying to make a crash landing in the LeRoy field the tail of the transport and the rear end of the fuselage was ripped off by the tree, the cow being struck at the same time. The rest of the plane crashed a chicken house and skidded to a stop just a few yards from the LeRoy barn.

Although dazed by the severity of the landing, the crew was able to clear the plane before it burst into roaring flames which almost totally destroyed it. Fire departments from Homer and Cortland answered a call, but were unable to save the craft due to absence of water in the field for pumping purposes. Syracuse Air Base fire fighting and ambulance equipment was not at the Cortland port yesterday. Sirens of the Homer Fire Department and a huge volume of smoke attracted a large crowd to the airport. MP's from Syracuse Army Air base were stationed at the scene following the crash to guard the wreckage.

Col. william Bell and his staff of officers from the Syracuse base, flew down to the port immediately, beginning investigation shortly after 3 o'clock yesterday. Smith, Ludwig, and Tobin, as witnesses of the crash, were questioned by the Army intelligence officers. Only three planes came to the Cortland port yesterday afternoon. Two had successfully landed and taken off again before the third C-47 failed to gain altitude and disintegrated.

Lieut. Co. Harry P. Galligher, commandant of the air base here identified the crew members of the demolished plane as: Second Lieut. Willis Arneberg, Flight Officer Harold L. Graybill, Sgt. B. Kielpopf, injured crew member; Pvt. Paul Spielberger and Pvt. William Rosenblum. This was the first accident in the Cortland area since C-47's from Syracuse Air Base began using the Cortland airport last week for daily training purposes in flights between Syracuse and Cortland. A syracuse Army Air Base crash truck is expected to remove the plane wreckage today.