Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
D8032-5
Date(s)
- 1939-03-18 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Stratoliner crash at Alder, Washington, March 18, 1939. A large crowd gathered around the wrecked airplane which had unexpectedly broken up and plunged two miles into the rural hillsides near Alder, 30 miles southeast of Tacoma. There were no survivors among the ten member crew. The tragedy would draw people from all over the state, necessitating the deputizing of several local residents to handle crowd control. Despite additional police help, avid souvenir hunters made off with bits of debris from the Boeing craft. The $500,000 airplane weighed twenty tons and its cabin was constructed to carry 33 passengers when completed. It was designed to fly "sub stratosphere," 5-6 miles above earth, in the "no weather" zone. It had already logged in 20 hours of flight time prior to the accident. (T. Times, 3-18-39, p. 1, 3-20-39, p. 1)
Aircraft accidents--Alder--1930-1940; Boeing Stratoliner;