On a stormy December Sunday evening in 1963, Maryland State Trooper Don Hash, a 23 or 24 year-old rookie one year out of the academy, was cruising northbound on Route 213 near Brantwood Golf Course. As an unusual late fall thunderstorm rolled across Cecil County, heavy rain pelted the patrol car when a powerful bolt of lightning in the shape of a wishbone suddenly came out of low hanging clouds, illuminating the area. One or two seconds after that a large airplane enshrouded in an orange glow flew out of the cloud. The doomed craft continued in flight for 10 to 15 seconds before a wing fell off and the plane nosed straight down into the ground. Trooper Hash radioed to alert the barrack as he raced toward the crash site, somewhere east of Elkton near the state line.
Don, who would retire from the Maryland State Police as a Lieutenant, talked to us on June 9, 2011, about his experience that troubling, unforgettable dark night in a Maryland cornfield. He was the first emergency responder to arrive on the scene. “I could see flames on Delancy Road,” he recalled as he neared the crash site. “It wasn’t a large fire. It was several smaller fires. A fuselage with about 8 or 10 window frames was about the only large recognizable piece I could see when I pulled up. It was just a debris field. It didn’t resemble an airplane. The engines were buried in the ground 10 to 15-feet from the force of the impact.”
By this time everyone was mobilizing. The state police called for troopers from other barracks to help the three troopers covering the county that evening. In a few minutes the fire company arrived and during the next hour officers from throughout the state started arriving on the scene to help. Trooper Hash stayed on the crash scene throughout that long stormy night until he was relieved the next morning.
What's your last name, mike?
ReplyDeleteMy mother was a supervisor at triumphnexplosives from 1942to1945 making explosives for the navy.
I'm writing my memoir and need t know knw what data you can provide besides the harper's mag article, a copy of which I have. I blog at www.makeminememoir.blogspot.com, which you might enjoy.
I spent a sleepover or two as a small child in the barracks on site with her and I'm looking for historical accuracy where it exists about living this short or Period o f history, thoughbit appears that I know more about it out of her own mouth. She is gone now, but I recall her many tales of activity atherosclerosis job.
Actually, those stories might well be of interest to you and the historical society.
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