Downed Pilot Stranded On Island
Since Friday, Is Rescued Sunday
Helicopter Makes
Dramatic Rescue
A mass search for a Kodiak Air
way’s pilot, lost since Friday of
last week, resulted in his rescue
Easter Sunday. The downed plane,
piloted by Gene Kingston, who was
alone, was spotted by LI (j. g.)
James Wyatt of the Coast Guard
Air Detachment here, at approxi
mately 1:40 p. m. Sunday, as it lay
at about a 3,000-foot level on Crown
Mountain. The plane a Gruman Al
batross, was piloted by Lt. Joe An
derson. The mass search was con
ducted by the Coast Guard Air De
tachment, a Navy plane, Depart
ment of Fish & Game aircraft, and
civilian aircraft including both of
Bob Hall’s Kodiak Airways planes
and Harvey Flying Service. Much
of the search was conducted along
the coastline, since the lost plane
was a Gram an Widgeon amphib
ion. Crown Mountain is located ap
proximately midway between Uyak
and Kizhuyak Bay.
When no trace of the plane was
.found Friday, the search was re
sumed the following morning. Fog
and rain made the search hopeless.
The second day was climaxed with
freezing temperatures and a heavy
snowfall.
The third day, Easter Sunday,
began with the same weather which
had prevailed on the previous day.
An hour after daybreak the snow
ceased and the clouds lifted, and
the search was on again. That af
ternoon the missing pilot was spot
ted as he stood atop a wing of the
plane waving frantically. Three
passes were necessary by the Gru
man Albatross before the electrify
ing words “He is alive!” could be
radiod back ot Kodiak. A radio was
TRACING A KILLER—Television star Arthur Godfrey, a surg
ery patient for lung cancer two years ago, views a test tube at New
York’s SIoan-Kettering Institute as Dr. Aaron Bendrich demonstrates
process by which chemical compounds are altered to increase their
effectiveness against cancer. At left is Dr. Sasson Cohen, also of the
institute staff. Godfrey is honorary education chairman of the Ameri
can Cancer Society’s current crusade. (AP Wirephoto)
dropped to Hingston, and commun
ication established. The pilot said
he was unhurt except for bruises.
Lt. Paul H. Breed and Cdr. F. J.
Walton, flying Coast Guard heli
copters many miles to the south,
were notified. Upon arrival at the
wreckage, the pilot was faced with
the perplexing problem of how to
make the pickup. Breed, a veteran
of scores of rescues, found that the
plateau at the top of the mountain
had become covered by clouds only
minutes before his arrival.
Finding an outcropping of rock,
Lt. Breed balanced the tips of his
skids on the rock for a full twenty
minutes as Kingston attempted to
walk the 200 feet to the helicopter.
The uphill walk was apparently too
much for the exhausted pilot, and
•he started downhill away from the
helicopter. Breed, fearing that
Kingston was too dazed to realize
that rescue was so near, attempted
to head him off. Another forty-five
minutes elapsed before the heli
copter pilot was able to bring his
machine within thirty feet of King
ston. Then came the dramatic
broadcast: “I have him aboard and
am airborne.”
But before Breed could continue
to Kodiak, it was necessary for him
to refuel. The two helicopters
landed on a sand bar at the base
of Crown Mountain, and Cdr. Wal
ton shared his fuel with Breed.
Gene Kingston was landed in Ko
diak at 5:56 p. m., virtually
snatched from his “tomb” on Eas
ter Sunday, after a dark Friday
and an interval of time that of
fered little hope of rescue.
He has been confined to the Grif
fin Memorial Hospital, where he
has suffered a state of shock. His
wife, June, who lives in Renton,
Washington, was told the good
news almost immediately, since she
made a phone call here about the
time of the rescue.
Earl Goodhill
At Wodlingers
Mr. Earl Goodhill, pharmacist
from Edmonds, Wash., is druggist
at Wodlinger Drug Store, in the ab
sence of Larry Wodlinger, owner,
wtho is in ill health.
Goodhill is registered in Alaska,
and will remain with the local drug
store for about six weeks.
4 •
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the Mirror does each week.
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THE KODIAK MIRROR
' What’s Your Postal I. Q.?
TRUE a
FALSE a
1. FALSE — No money order shall
be paid after 20 years from the last
day of the month of original issue.
Card money orders issued within
this period may be paid; however
claim for a paper money order
should be made on Form 6401, “In
quiry as to Payment of Money Or
der,” accompanied by the order,
if available.
“THE POST OFFICE DEPART
MENT HAS CONSTRUCTED
□ Nearly 5,000 □ Nearly 2,000
□ Nearly 10,000 NEW OFFICE
BUILDINGS SINCE 1953.”
Naval Station
BIRTHS
A son, Rodney Alan, weighing 5
lbs. 12 ozs., was 'born on April 3 to
Carol Ann and Louis Franklin Mar
tin, PC2, USN.
2. Nearly 5,000 new Post Offcie
Buildings have been constructed
since 1953.
Give Mom
This Sunday off and take her to the
St. Mary’s Dinner
at the Elk’s Club
Where Can You
Get As Much For So Little?
4
FAMILY: $6.00
SINGLES $2.00
SINGLE CHILD: $1.00
, LOU VEERMAN
Agent
486—3656
SAILING FROM SEATTLE
April 26, 1961
MS TAT ALIN A
Seward (Mail Oqjy?, Womens Bay,
* Kodiak, Seldovia, Homer,
THOMPSON TRANSFER
ERIC MUELLER, Prep.
CLEAN HEAT!
Both Standard Furnace Oil
and Standard Stove Oil
are super-refined to burn clean.
CALL US TODAY FOR PROMPT SERVICE
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE WE HAVE
Automatic Keep-Filled Service
Home ml Office St.ndird Flint
486-2300 486-5115