On this day 70 years ago a military twin engine C-47 airplane which was in route to Charleston, West Virginia, for the funeral of a flier crashed and burst into flames as it approached Kanawha Airport. The aircraft was flying through a misty rain when it struck a ridge eight miles north of Charleston.
There were nine officers and 12 enlisted men onboard the plane who were set to participate as an honor guard for the funeral of a pilot killed in an airplane mishap the previous week. Nineteen of the men were killed in the crash, with two surviving. Most of them were members of the 167th Fighter Squadron and lived in the Charleston area.
The two survivors were found by a woman who lived on a farm located where the crash occurred. Mrs. Goldie Seabolt assisted both of the survivors to her house and served them coffee while waiting arrival of rescue and recovery crews.
It was determined that one of the wings of the plane clipped a tall locust tree on the ridge, causing it to hit the ground and burst into flames.
