SYRACUSE HERALD-JOURNAL

Monday Evening, Dec. 12, 1949

Wrecked Plane, Pilot's Body Found

Hunt Ends
S.U. Senior Had Flown Into Cloud
Fell close To Highway

Lt. Robert T. Mankey, 26, of 153 Strong Ave, a Syracuse University senior, was found dead today beside a wrecked F-47 National Guard fighter plane near Georgetown, 15 miles south of Cazenovia. 

Mankey had been missing since 3 P.M. yesterday when his ship flew into a heavy cloud over the Erieville Reservoir.  He and another pilot were flying National Guard Thunderbolts on a routine training flight.

Edwin Tillapaugh, janitor at Georgetown Central School, told State Police he found the wreck a mile west of Georgetown, about 500 yards off Route 80.

He said the pilot was thrown clear of the plane and there was no sign that he had tried to use his parachute.

The plane was found shortly after two of Mankey's flying buddies went up on a second search flight from Hancock Airport today.

Deputy Sheriff L.E. Stone of Morrisville said someone told him today he heard an explosion to the left of Cazenovia School at 3:30 P.M. yesterday but did not bother to investigate.

Mankey's body was 1500 feet from where the plane hit, Stone said.  Part of the plane was about three feet deep in mud.  It was scattered in a 1500 foot area and parts were in surrounding trees.

Col Michael C. Maione, commanding officer of the 138th National Guard Fighter Squadron, and Lt. George E. Paetow of DeWitt, who had been on yesterday's flight with Mankey, took off at 10:20 A.M.

Earlier Malone and two other pilots had left here at dawn, despite heavily overcast skies.

They flew over the Erieville area, where Mankey was believed to have crashed.  But a low cloud ceiling forced the dawn flight back.

Bad Weather kept other planes enlisted for the search at Griffis Air Force Base, Rome, all morning.  But rescue crews made up of state police, Madison county sheriff's deputies and civilians tramped through the area.  Mankey was on a routine training flight with Lt. George E. Paetow of DeWitt pk. in another F-47.  Paetow said they were flying southeast over densely wooded area, about 25 miles southeast of Syracuse when he sighted a heavy cloud.

He said he called Mankey over the interplane radio and warned him not to fly through the cloud, but at that moment Mankey disappeared. 

Paetow called the Hancock control tower.  Amateur radio stations and four radar sets at the Air Base were put to emergency use, but all efforts to contact Mankey were in vain. 

Officials said he took off at 2:30 P.M. and had enough gasoline to maintain flight until 5 P.M.

Mankey, who lived here with his wife, Donna, was a College of Fine Arts senior.  He and his wife came from Los Angeles, Calif.  He was a fighter pilot with the Ninth Air Force in France during World War II and a veteran of 43 combat missions.

Mankey transferred to Syracuse University two years ago from the University of Southern California.  He was a part time bus driver for the Syracuse and Oswego Motor Coach Lines.

SYRACUSE HERALD-JOURNAL

Air Guard Probes Fatal Plane Crash

The Air Ntional Guard's  permanent accident investigation board today launched a probe into the crash of an F-47 Thunderbolt plane Sunday night which claimed the life of Lt. Robert T. Mankey, 26, of the 138th Fighter Squadron, Hancock Field.

Col. Michael C. Maione, commander of the squardon, said the board had visited the scene of the crash west of Route 80 in Georgetown yesterday and was gathering data today from witnesses regarding the terrain, time of the accident, and other pertinent information.  As is customary, all persons having anything to do with the plane in which Mankey met his death will be questioned, Maione said.

An intensive land and air search for Mankey's plane ended at noon yesterday with the finding of the wreckage 300 yards off Muller Hill rd. in Georgetown by D. Alton Griffith, janitor of Georgetown High School.

Madison County authorities said Griffith had heard a crash about 3 P.M. Sunday, but did not know of the missing plane until Monday morning, when he set out to find the craft, while 11 planes in Syracuse and Rome were awaiting flying weather to join the search.

Mankey's plane hit the side of a hill.  At the point of impact the ground was gouged to a depth of four feet.  Wreckage was scattered up the slope for about 2000 feet.  The pilot's body was thrown clear by the crash.  Lt. Mankey of 153 Strong Ave, was a Syracuse University senior.  He was a veteran of 43 wartime flying missions.