OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
NOME, ALASKA. WEDNESDAY, JUNE^1962
121 Americans Perish In
Worst Single Airline Disaster
tggfl
By Rodney Angove
PARTS U!) — A chartered Air
France liner faltered on its take
off from Orly Field for New York
Sunday and skidded into a flaming
crash that killed 130 persons. It
was the worst single-plane dis
aster in aviation history. Only two
persons, both airline hostess, sur
vived.
All the 121 passengers were
Americans. Most were cultural
leaders of Atlanta, members of the
Atlanta Art Assn, heading back
to the Georgia capital with happy
memories and souvenirs of a three
week tour of European cultural
sites and art galleries.
Others who died were eight
crewmen and Air France’s Atlanta
agent.
The plane, a four-engine Boeing
707, lifted only a few feet from the
runway in clear, bright weather.
Then it pancaked down and, rip
ping through an airfield fence,
thundered ahead for 300 yards.
The grieving mayor of Atlanta,
Ivan Allen, arrived in Paris today
to help identify the bodies of the
victims — many of them his per
sonal friends.
The mayor was accompanied by
Edwin Stem, assistant city attorney
of Atlanta. They were met by of
ficials of Air France, Orly Airport,
the Paris City Council, the Foreign
Ministry and Ministry of Public
Works.
Pretty Franchise Authie, one of
the hostesses, said: “It was so fast.
So sudden. I didn’t have time to
realize what was going on.”
Witnesses said Capt. Roland
Hoche, one of Air France's most
experienced pilots, apparently tried
frantically to halt the airliner after
engine trouble developed as it roar
ed down the runway, but the
plane was going too fast.
The four-engine, $0-miflion air
liner rose only .a fee feet, then
plunged to the ground and thun
dered ahead for 300 yards toward
a cluster of homes in a village
bordering the airfield.
The blast from exploding fuel
tanks startled the village residents
just sitting down for lunch.
The inspector general in charge
of the investigation said he noted
skid marks on the runway which
Rebellion Snuffed
Out in Venezuela
CARACAS* Venezuela (/B —
Loyal forces have crushed the
Puerto Cabello rebellion and wiped
out diehard leftist snipers, dis
patches from the port city said
today.
President Romulo Bentancourt’s
government, apparently safely
through the bloodiest test of his
three-year-old regime, arrested
Venezuela’s No. 1 Communist,
Gustavo Machado.
The veteran Secretary-General
of the Venezuean Communist party
was nabbed by police at Maiquetia
Airport on his return from a trip
to Moscow. The president blamed
Communists for the uprising,
spearheaded by 400 Marines at
Puerto Cabello, 65 miles west of
the capital.
Authorities had counted 135
dead. Unofficial estimates of the
casualties ranged to more than 200
killed and 1,006 wounded. Snipers
kept shooting for a while after the
surrender of top rebel officers
broke the back of the uprising, re
ports from the scene said.
indicated the pilot had his brakes
on for about 500 yards. The
smouldering wreckage was search
ed for the automatic recorder which
would give a clue to the plane’s
final fatal seconds.
Air France said the American
built Boeing had flown in from
New York only a few hours before
and had been inspected before the
return flight. It showed no trouble
on the eastward crossing, officials
said.
The death toll of 130 was the
worst in a single-plane crash in
aviation history — exceeding by
one the number killed in a 1953
crash of a U.S. Air Force C-124
Globemaster near Tokyo.
It was the fourth crash of a 707
since the big jets went into com
mercial service in October 1958.
The Boeing Airplane Co., build
ers of the plane, said it has de
livered 289 planes to 26 airlines
and they now fly 5.9 million miles
a week, carrying 210,000 passen
gers. The company said the 707
has “the best safety record of any
airplane ever introduced into com
mercial operation.”
FORMAL DIP . . .
TOKYO UP) — Four American
airmen took a dip in the Imperial
Palace moat in the heart of down
■ town Tokyo, but benevolent police^
! released them with an admonition
to do their swimming elsewhere.
Officers said the four from near
by Fuchu Air Base had been drink
ing and one apprently fell in the
water. The other three dived to
the rescue, and “all found it so
pleasant they continued to swim,”
a police officer said.
SIX PERSONS WITHDRAW
FROM PRIMARY RACE
JUNEAU M — Secretary of State
Hugh Wade said today the follow
ing individuals have given formal
notice of withdrawing their decla
rations of candidacy since the May
1 filing deadline:
Norbert H. Skinner, Clear, for
the Democratic nomination to the
Alaska House of Representatives
from District 15.
James M. Hendrie, Fairbanks,
for the Democratic nomination to
the Alaska House of Representa
tives from District 18.
Harry E. Merriman, Fairbanks,
for the Republican nomination to
the Alaska House of Represetatives
from District 16.
Yule F. Kilcher, Homer, for the
Democratic nomination to the
Alaska House of Representatives
from District 10.
Kilcher remains a candidate for
the Democratic nomination to the
Alaska Senate from District H
(Seward-Kenai).
William Sheffield, Anchorage,
for the Democratic nomination to
the Alaska House of Representa
tives from District 8.
John Rader withdrew his Demo
cratic nomination for governor on
May 1, the filing deadline.
75 Airmen Hospitalised
WITCHITA, Kan. W — More
than 75 airmen were hospitalized
for food poisoning Friday after
eating in the main mess hall at
McDonnell Air Force Base.
They complained of upset stom
ache and nausea and were kept
overnight for observation. None
appeared to be in serious condi
tion, a base spokesman said.
The airmen were among m^rc
than 1,000 who had eaten in the *
mm hall.
Alaskans Express
Approval of 49th
Statens Exhibit
SEATTLE m ~
1962 Convention
Associated Press
Delegates to the
of the Alaska
Members’ Assn.
today expressed general approval
of the 49th State’s exhibit at the
Seattle World’s Fair.
“I think we are going to bring
back a good dividend for the money
we spent on the exhibit,” C. W.
Snedden, publisher of the Fair
banks Daily News-Miner com
mented.
Snedden said that Morris Ford,
Alaska’s Director of Tourism and
economic development, “deserves a
medal for his work on the exhibit.
He did a highly respectable job.”
Bemie Kosinski, managing editor
of the Anchorage Daily Times and
outgoing chairman of the AAPMA,
said that in his opinion the Alaska
display, overall, was very good. I
“There were some omissions
which should have been corrected,
however, if space permitted,”
Kosinski said. “I personally would
have liked to have seen some Eski
mo ivory carvers at the exhibit.
“In addition, there should have
been more wildlife displays, in my
opinion. Overall, however, the
Alaska exhibit compared very well
with other exhibits I saw.”
Ty Clark, news director for
KENI-TV, Anchorage, outgoing
vice chairman of the AAPMA, disc
noted lack of wildlife displays.
“I was very favorable impressed
just the same,” Clark said. “The
Alaska exhibit was much better
than what I had anticipated.”
‘Tm a sentimentalist,” comment
ed Robert Atwood, editor and pub
lisher of the Anchorage Daily
Times, “but I was quite impressed
with all of the things people at
tending the exhibit said about
Alaska.
“I thought the Alaska exhibit
compared quite favorably with the
foreign exhibits I saw.”
Dave Galloway, news executive
editor* of the Fairbanks Daily
News-Miner, termed the Alaska
display a “very sophisticated ex
hibit.”
Mrs. Emily Boucher, publisher of
the Nome Nugget, said the Alaska
exhibit was “very exciting. It gave
the Alaskans attending the exhibit
a distinct feeling of pride.”
Bill Boucher, Mrs. Boucher’s son
and v an employe of Municipal
Utilities, Fairbanks, said he felt
the display was an “excellent cross
section of Alaska. I thought the
recorded commentary was handled
very well.”
Galloway’s wife, Nancy, said that
after going through the Alaska ex
hibit, she felt disappointed in look
ing at other exhibits on the Fair
grounds.
“That huge polar bear, particu
larly, was smashing,” Mrs. Gal
loway commented.
A visitor to the AAPMA, John
Edinger, pubisher of Centralia
Chehalis, Wn., Daily Chronicle, said
he found that the Alaska exhibit
had “improved with age.”
“It is much better now then
when the Fair first opened, be
cause of the additions and im
provements,” Edinger said.
WEATHER OUTLOOK
Partly cloudy with little change
in temperature. In the last 24
hours: High of 45, low of 30. Max.
wind 17 roph from the north. Sun
rise at 1:40 a.m., sunset at 10:22
p.m. Temps, a year ago today:
High of 38, low of 30., Extremes
on this date since 1907: High of 70
:n 1953, low of 28 in 1927.
1st High-Altitude
Shot Fizzles Out
By Jack Schreibman
HONOLULU —- A nuclear
warhead — intact or as debris —
fell into 720 feet of water off
Johnston Island today when a mis
sile carrying it aloft was itself
exploded less than two minutes
before the bomb was to be de
tonated.
A Joint Task Force 8 spokesman
said he did not know the condition
of the warhead, intended as the
first high altitude nuclear device
to be exploded in the U.S. test
series at Johnston Island.
The spokesman had no informa
tion on whether the device itself
was destroyed when the big Thor
intercontinental ballistic missile
was deliberately exploded because
of a malfunction in the tracking
system.
He was unable to tell whether
salt water corrosion could set off
the warhead if it lies on Pacific
Ocean bottom over an extensive
period of time. Nor could he say
whether the device would give off
radioactivity.
“Those are scientific questions,”
he said. “You’ll have to get the 1
answers from Washington.”
In Washington there was no im
mediate comment from the Atomic
Energy Commission. But a spokes
man indicated there might be in
formation on some such points
later in the day.
The Coast Guard said it woul<
not declare the area around th<
aborted missile dangerous to navi
gation.
(Continued on Page 2)
FRENCH COURT REJECTS
APPEAL OF JOUHAND
PARIS UP) — The French Su
preme Court rejected today an ap
peal by counsel for ex-Gen. Ed
mond Jouhand, No. 2 leader of the
Terrorist Secret Army Organi
zation sentenced to death for trea
Only clemency by President
Charles De Gaulle can now save
him from execution.
Jouhand’s defense attorneys had
appealed to the Supreme Court to
review his sentence and grant a
new trial.
The former Air Force general, 57,
was convicted of being a leader in
the secret army and of having par
ticipated in the abortive generals
revolt in Algiers in April, 1961.
His chief, ex-Gen. Raoul Salan,
escaped with a life sentence in a
verdict that enraged De Gaulle.
ACTOR CHARLES LAUGHTON
IN HOSPITAL WITH CANCER
NEW YORK (IP) — Actor Charles
Laughton is in Memorial Hospital
for cancer and allied diseases.
His manager, Bob Hulter, said
“nothing has been seattled” and
examinations will be made today.
Laughton, 62, entered the hos
pital Sunday.
Hulter said examinations in
volved sacroiliac trouble, for which
Laughton has been treated for a
number of years, and a collar bone
fracture which he suffered in a
bathtub fall at Flint, Mich., on a
tour last January.
Other sources report that Laugh
ton will undergo an operation for
removal of a cancer-infected
kidney.
Queen Clarissa says: “Let's
make the Eskimo Games and
Dances the best ever for Nome's
Midnight Sun Festival June 1L
22 and 23.
Alaska Wins
First Round In
Fishing Dispute
d
SEATTLE UP! — Gov. Wm. Egan
said today Alaska has won the first
round in its dispute with Japan
ese fisheries interests, and the
Japanese know it.
Egan told a news conference
that a request from a six-boat
Japanese fishing fleet for “special
dispensation” from Alaska for three
weeks of fishing in Shelikcf Strait
proved the point.
He said this made it clear the
Japanese recognize Alaska’s con
trol over the strait, where the
commanders of the fleet and two of
his captains were arrested in mid
April on charges of violating Alas
ka fishing regulations. The Japan
ese were freed on bond and the
cases have not yet been set for
trial.
When Egan refused the fleet’s
request to operate three weeks in
the strait, the Japanese announced
they were returning to Tokyo
“completely without a catch.” They
had been fishing for herring.
Egan and Sen. Ernest Gruening
both said at the news conference
that the administration and the
State Department had paid too
little attention to American fish
eries problems.
Gruening said he would submit
\ specific proposals for strengthen
ing Alaska fisheries resources
when the North Pacific Interna
tional Fisheries Treaty comes up
for re-negotiation, probably next
year.
He said his principal recom
mendation would be to move the
treaty line westward. He said when
the line was established there
had not been enough research on
areas where Bristol Bay salmon
are found.
Egan said he considered the
Japanese incursion into “Alaska
waters” a probing operation and
said there had been a number of
news articles published In Tokyo
earlier this year bearing this out.
He said the Japanese obviously
were trying to establish “historical
rights” in waters close to Alaska,
and also were testing how Alaska
would react.
The governor said Alaska con
siders itself on sound ground in
the Japanese seizure. He said the
State Attorney General’s opinion
held that Shelikof Strait, between
Kodiak Island the Alaska Penin
sula, was an extension of Cook
Inlet and as such was Alaska
waters.
Both Egan and Gruening visited
the Alaska State Exhibt at the
Seattle World’s Fair and called it
“Terrific.” Egan said his office
is receiving hundreds of inquiries
from people who have seen the
exhibit.
The governor and his wife came
here from Juneau for the launch
ing tonight of the Malaspina, first
of three vessels in Alaska’s ferry
fleet. Mrs. Egan will christen the
352-foot ferry, which will go into
service in September between.
Prince Rupert, B.C., and Haines,
Alaska.
Red Chine Sells Rice
RANGOON, Burma UP* — Food*
short Communist China has sold
100,000 tons of Burmese rice to
Indonesia in a deal that netted
the Chinese a $1,12 million profit,
sources here said. They said the
Chinese got the rice from Burma
on a barter basis and sold it for
' cash. ' xSTY.