Mason City Globe Gazette
July 5, 1934
Story No. 1
Crash of Airplane Turns Celebration to Tragedy
Ackley Aviator and 4 Other North Iowans Are Victims
ST. ANSGAR, July 5. — A motor sputtered, a large plane dipped from side to side and plunged precipitously downward, shrieks pierced the air from occupants of the falling ship—a tremendous crash, a burst of flame! And this community's day of joyous celebration, almost in the twinkling of an eye, had been converted into a night of profound sorrow.
Five young lives—four men and one girl—had been snuffed out in the worst aviation tragedy ever experienced in North Iowa.
The dead:
Fred Symington, 35, Ackley, pilot.
Gladys Ueker, 20, Grafton.
Marvin Miller, 20, Grafton.
Ed Libersky, 36, St. Ansgar.
Vaney Libersky, 30, St. Ansgar.
Wednesday night as St. Ansgar went through the motions of completing its Fourth of July celebration, the crash which carried a barnstorming pilot and his four passengers to their death, after a brisk day of business, was the topic of hushed conversation in dozens of groups.
Music Became a Dirge.
There was brave effort to enter into the spirit of a bowery dance but the presence nearby of the charred and twisted remains of the ill-fated airplane made a dirge of all music. Thoughts were on the five bodies, burned almost beyond recognition -- in
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the Schroeder and Houg funeral home in St. Ansgar and the Champion Funeral home in Osage —- and of the grief-stricken families.
The community was stunned, even as it was some five or six years ago when an unexplained blast at a filling station cost the lives of two well known citizens.
Happened at 5 O'clock.
Eye witnesses were piecing together their versions of the flight from the time the Ryan cabin plane, powered by a 220 Wright whirlwind motor, took off from a meadow on Hume's farm, a quarter of a mile east of town on highway 218, until the plane faltered as it was about to begin its regular descent, crashing into fragments and fire on the street in front of Borchardt's apartments in the southeast section of town.
The tragedy occurred at almost even 5 o'clock.
Although all evidence of a conclusive nature died with the pilot and passengers, some held to the hope that an investigation scheduled for today would throw some light on the catastrophe.
Several reports concerning the air-worthiness of the plane were being discussed. One was that the materials in it had disintegrated because of extended disuse. Another was that the plane was carrying an over-load. It was expected that the inquiry would dip into these matters.
Tree Was Cut Off.
Wreckage of the plane, covered over with a tarpaulin, was roped off and guarded Wednesday night. Curious persons were attracted to the scene by the hundreds while the gasoline fed flames were leaping tree high and throughout the evening but in anticipation of the inquiry were barred from touching the skeleton of the plane.
One of the points commented on by visitors to the scene was the decapitation of a small hard maple tree by one wing just before the plane nosed into the street at the edge of the sidewalk. The falling craft is said to have missed an electric light wire on the west side of
the street by a matter of inches.
Eye Witness Story
Perhaps the fall of the plane and its conversion into a
pyre can be most graphically described by letting the eye witness closest
at hand tell his story here as he did late Wednesday night to a Globe-Gazette
reporter—a witness who thought his own son might be in the catapulting ship.
It is Dr. W.L. Dockstader talking and a severe burn across
his nose and front cheeks will bear testimony to his proximity to the
wreckage when it burst into flame. "I was sitting in a chair on. the front
lawn of my home, a block north and a block west of where the plane crashed.
My brother-in-law, J. P. Hanson of Otranto, was seated in a car and we were
watching the Ackley man's airplane as it circled over town on its numerous
trips with passengers. I was especially interested because my 15 year old
boy, Wilmer. Jr., was planning to go up some time during the afternoon.
Thought Pilot Was Stunting.
"On this final flight, I was attracted by an apparent
flopping sidewise of the plane's wings, following a sputtering of the motor.
I had felt all along that the pilot was flying too low but on this trip he
seemed to have reached a great altitude. But I thought when the plane's
course became a little unsteady that the pilot was doing a little stunting
and I said something to my brother-in-law about the folly of such a thing.
"He isn't stunting," Mr. Hanson replied. "He's falling."
"As I look back on it, I can vaguely recall a noise from the plane, not unlike that of a crank arm coming loose in an automobile. It also seems now that I saw two or three objects released from the plane—I wondered if maybe they were firecrackers being thrown out. This part of my recollection is more or less hazy.
Thought of His Son.
"Immediately I had visions of my son in. a falling plane. I was terrified for an instant. Then I began to run in the direction of the plane's fall, across neighbors' yards.
"At the instant the plane hit the earth, I was within two rods of the wreckage. The next instant before the struts had quit quivering—I was at the wreckage, working feverishly to extricate from it a lad I thought might be my own. I have since identified it as Marvin Miller, He was slouched over so that I couldn't see his face. A door on this left side had been thrown open by the force of the crash and I tugged with all my might at the lad's arm.
Driven Away by Flames.
"Fire broke out immediately on the wing away from me and before I knew it, the flames were all around me. Mr. Hanson had overtaken me by this time and was tugging at me, realizing both the danger and the futility of the thing I was trying to do. I said something about the possibility of my boy being in the wreckage and tried anew to recover the body. But the flames had attained such intensity by this time that I had to give up.
"It wasn't until folks arrived from the landing field that I was assured my son had not been killed, that he had gone up on a hop earlier in the day."
Later still Dr. Dockstader felt a smarting sensation on his nose and and cheekbone. This, it developed, was caused by a large blistered area which was under a heavy coat of medicated cream Wednesday night.
Fire Fighters Called
The St. Ansgar fire department under the direction, of Chief W. B. Price swung into action but the wood and cloth material of the plane, some of it saturated with gasoline and oil, was so highly inflammable that nearly everything burnable was burned. Hose had to be strung a block and a half. So intense was the heat that a vine on the Borchardt apartments 40 feet
distant was withered and scorched.
The flames extinguished, there began the tedious and unpleasant task of recovering the charred bodies from the cabin area of the large plane. C. P. Golberg and Vern Falk took a lead in this work. It wasn't until after 7 o'clock when the last body was removed. The job
involved use of saws and sledges.
All Dead Before Fire.
Piteous shrieking of the passengers started, according to witnesses, soon after the plane obviously got out of control. No sound, however, came from the wreckage, leading to the belief that death was instant for all five passengers—and that they were spared the agony of death by incineration.
The Grafton party which set out for St. Ansgar for a day of merrymaking consisted of five. It was a quirk of circumstance that brought death to Gladys Ueker rather than to her lifelong friend, Pearl Borchert.
Yielded Her Turn to Ride.
Those in the party were Ivan Krueger, Miss Borchert and
her sister, Ruby, Marvin Miller and Miss Ueker. Remembering that even riding
on a ferris wheel or a merry-go-round made her dizzy, Miss Pearl Borchert
yielded to Miss Ueker her invitation to accompany Marvin on the flight. Mr.
Krueger and Miss Ruby had previously been up.
Wednesday night Miss Borchert was crushed with grief in
the loss of a dear girl friend as well as of the man she was expected some
day to marry.
Double Funerals
Plans for a double funeral for the Grafton air victims were
laid Wednesday night by the Miller and Ueker families. It was to be held at
1:30 o'clock Thursday afternoon in the Grafton Lutheran Church, with the
Rev. C. Landeck in charge.
Marvin Miller is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Herman Miller and a brother, Earl, manager of the local telephone company,
by whom Marvin was also employed at times.
Miss Ueker leaves a father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. John
Ueker and three younger sisters, Dorothy, Lola and Virginia. Gladys was
employed at the Wagner meat market in Grafton. She served with distinction
for several years as the Globe-Gazette's news representative in the Grafton
community.
Fathers of the two victims, both high school graduates,
have been associated as partners in the Miller-Ueker hardware store in
Grafton since 1914.
Libersky Funeral Friday.
Double funeral rites for the Libersky brothers will be
conducted Friday afternoon at the residence in St. Ansgar. Burial will be
made in the St. Ansgar cemetery.
The Libersky brothers, both unmarried, were the sons of Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Libersky. The father is a retired farmer. The elder, son has been employed in maintenance work on the county highway system. Vaney, the younger brother, has been employed at times by H. B. Hansen in the local grain elevator.
The genius of the older brother in the manufacture of violins, despite his handicap of having only one arm, brought him considerable recognition. It was the steel hook which, took the place of the missing member that resulted in his identification, his body having been disfigured more than any of the other four victims. He had done considerable flying, it was stated by neighbors.
Four brothers and two sisters survive the Liberskys. The sisters are Mrs. Louis Volney and Mrs. Elmer Nelson, both of St. Ansgar: and the brothers are Joe, Lyle, Minn.; Frank, John and Charles of St. Ansgar.
Served in World War.
Mr. Symington was born Sept. 26. 1900. His father. Dr. Thomas Symington, died 21 yeahs ago. He was graduated from Ackley high school in 1916. After returning from service in the World war, he went to Whittier, Cal., where he operated a garage. In December. 1927. he returned to Ackley and had since worked as bookkeeper in the R. R. Hadley creamery
For the past three or four years Mr. Symington had been flying airplanes and last spring bought the airplane which crashed. It was bought at Waterloo and was not new. He was a licensed transport pilot.
His Mother's Support.
Mr. Symington, who was not married, had been supporting his mother, with whom he lived.
Besides his mother, Mrs. Anna Syminton, he is survived by one brother, Will, who is a salesman in the east; and his sisters, Mrs. R. R. Hadley of Ackley, Mrs. Arthur Hale of Nevada and Mrs. C. E. Mclatirc of I Pauline, 111. j
The body of Symington was taken early Thursday morning to the Greenfield funeral parlors at Ackley.
Funeral services for Mr. Symington will be held at 4 o'clock Friday afternoon at the residence. The Rev. W. E. Fisher, pastor of the Presbyterian church at Marion, will be in charge. The body will be placed in a crypt of a mausoleum. Harry Richsmeier, attorney at Ackley, was quoted by Ackley neighbors as having observed about two weeks ago that Symington said that if anything went wrong with the motor of his plane he would come down like a shot.
[MASON CITY GLOBE GAZETTE JULY 5, 1934]
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