SYRACUSE HERALD-JOURNAL

SYRACUSE, N.Y., SATURDAY EVENING, JULY 23, 1955

JET CRASHES; PILOT ESCAPES

A Howlett Hill Air National Guardsman escaped injury today when his jet fighter's engine failed during takeoff and his plane crashed in flames in a farm field. The pilot, 1st Lt. Everett E. Taylor of the 138th Fighter Squadron, was taking off from Hancock Field runway on a routine training flight when his F-94B jet had a power failure.

Lt. Col. J. Curtis Irwin, of the 138th, said the airman stayed with the plane to prevent it from crashing into any homes in the heavily-populated area. He guided his craft over the new Pitcher Hill traffic circle and brought it down at the edge of the Route 11 bypass. The plane then gouged a 150-yard path across a field and its tail assembly broke off, witnesses said.

The wings and fuselage kept on going for another 75 yards and burst into flames. The wreckage finally stopped in an oat field owned by August Wagner of Buckley Rd., North Syracuse. As the plane round to a stop, Taylor pulled open the canopy and leaped clear of the flaming cockpit.

He was taken to the Veterans Administration Hospital by an airbase ambulance. Attendants said the pilot's condition is "excellent," explaining he suffered only a back sprain. Hundreds of spectators, attracted by the smoking wreckage, flocked to the scene on foot and in cars. They were held in check by state troopers, sheriff's deputies and air policemen who cordoned off the crash scene.

Col. Irwin said many of the Air Guardsmen training at the airbase say Taylor's plane was in trouble. He said the jet engines "flamed out" (meaning a power failure) while gaining altitude after leaving the runway. The plane dropped rapidly, witnesses said. Taylor guided the jet from a westerly to a north westerly course to avoid hitting houses. One witness, Art Russell, Jr., of Wally Rd., said the plane narrowly missed a car on the new Route 11 as it came down on the highway's edge. Others reported the careening plane plowed a path "just like a road" across the fields.

The Mattydale volunteer Fire Department and the Syracuse Fire Department and the Syracuse Fire Department's crash truck from Hancock Field were immediately sent to the scene. But there was little they could do to save the burning plane.

The F-94B Starfire jet costs about $125,000, Col. Irwin said. Lt Taylor is a veteran of four years Air Force Service during World War II. He was a combat pilot in the China-Burma India Theater and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. He resides in Howlett Hill with his wife, Marion, and two sons, Everett, 11, and Donald, 8. Mrs. Taylor was immediately notified of the accident by Air Guard officials.

Taylor's civilian occupation is also flying planes. He is a pilot for the Colonial Airlines and flies regularly between Syracuse and Washington, D.C.

THE POST-STANDARD

SYRACUSE, N.Y., SUNDAY, JULY 24, 1955

POWER FAILURE FORCES PILOT TO CRASH LAND JET

OFFICER STEERS PLANE FROM POPULOUS AREA

The cool courage of 1st Lt. Everett E. Taylor of Howlett Hill, a jet pilot, saved the lives of residents of the population congested North Syracuse area shortly before noon yesterday when power failure caused the aircraft to crash shortly after a takeoff. Lt. Taylor, a World War II pilot and now a pilot for Colonial Airlines, eased his powerless jet away from houses and landed in a wheat stubble field just west of the Route 11 - South Bay traffic circle. The jet's tail flew off shortly after it struck the earth and, 250 feet farther on, the remainder of the aircraft burst into flames as Lt. Taylor released the canopy and crawled quickly to safety. Last night he was resting a strained back at Syracuse Veterans Administration Hospital.

PRAISED BY SUPERIOR

Col. J.C. Irwin, commanding officer of the 138 Fighter Squadron, Air National Guard, which Lt. Taylor joined a year ago, was high in praise of the pilot for his cool courage in avoiding striking a populated area in landing the plane. Col. Irwin said Lt. Taylor was on a routine training mission in an F94B jet all weather interceptor valued at about $250.000. Upon taking off from the west runway at Hancock Field, "just as he had gotten airborne, he experienced a sudden power failure," Col. Irwin explained. "He did a marvelous job in keeping the jet away from houses and bellied it in." Col. Irwin said. Col. Irwin said the crash occurred about 1 1/2 miles from the end of the west runway at Hancock Field.

TAIL SECTION BREAKS OFF

The tail section broke off almost immediately after the aircraft exploded and that the pilot was ejected 75 feet into the air by the seat cartridge were branded untrue. Col Irwin said an investigation would be conducted as to the reason for the power failure, with the plane debris being removed from the field, owned by August Wagner of Buckley road, today. A military guard was posted at the scene immediately after the crash. Lt. Taylor, speaking from his bed in the Veterans Administration Hospital last night, said that he didn't know what happened to cause the power failure.

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FELT 'SORT OF HELPLESS'

He said he "felt sort of helpless" and immediately looked for an open field in which to set the aircraft down. He said it "seemed a long time" from the time the jets failed - called a flameout - until he landed the plane and was clear of the wreckage. State Police were first to arrive on the scene. Crash equipment from Hancock Field and the Air National Guard was summoned and extinguished the fire in the wreckage.

The jet carried a quantity of live .50 caliber ammunition and 730 gallons of fuel, none of which exploded. Lt. H.A. Scoville of the North Syracuse state police substation pointed out that, because of the fuel tanks being crushed, some of the fuel burned before the fire-fighting apparatus arrived, but said there was no large explosion. Cpl. A.B. Jackman and Troopers T. B. McDonald and H. G. Stewart aided Lt. Scoville at the scene.

Lt. Taylor is a native of Howlett Hill, a small community west of Syracuse. He was an Army Air Force pilot in India, Burma and China during World War II and received the Distinguished Service Cross. Since World War II he has been a pilot for Colonial Airlines, flying from Syracuse to Philadelphia. His activities with the 138th Fighter Squadron take place during his spare time. He and Mrs. Taylor have two sons, Everett Taylor Jr., 11 and Donald Taylor, 8.