Introduction
Central Airport, Camden, New Jersey
I suppose it’s human nature to ask one’s self the question, once one knows that there really was an airport at the Airport Circle, did any airplanes ever crash there? After all, why do people watch NASCAR, horror movies, Court TV, and the evening news for? We humans are a morbid bunch.
In any event, the answer to the question is yes. On November 5, 1931, a Lockheed Vega traveling from New York to Washington DC attempted an unscheduled landing at Central Airport, crashed and burned, killing five people, including former U.S. Army pilot Vernon Lucas, who was traveling as a passenger at the time.
My thanks to his granddaughter, Elaine Lucas Hubbard, for making me aware of this incident, and sharing images from her family collection.
More photographs of Camden’s Central Airport can be found on the Central Airport page.
Central Airport
(photograph) — 1931
Photo by Dallin Aerial Surveys.
Central Airport—showing complete area of airport; golf course to North which guarantees open ground in that direction; Cooper Creek winding along the South and East borders, which will be developed into a park; unequalled highway system with super-highways leading directly to Camden, Philadelphia, New York, Atlantic City and other South Jersey points.
The crash occurred just beyond the trees towards the upper left-hand side of the photo. The golf course was located between Marlton Pike and the Cooper River east of Browning Road (visible in this photo), which was the eastern edge of the airport.
Five Killed When New Jersey Plane Crashes
Helena, Montana Independent —
Camden, N. J., Nov. 5. —(P)— Crashing to earth on a golf course as it attempted to land at the nearby airport, a Washington-bound passenger plane early tonight burst into flames, killing five persons.
The plane had left Newark at 5:45 p.m. Those killed, all burned beyond recognition, were Floyd Cox, Washington, pilot; Elmer Smith, advertising manager of the Washington Herald; Vernon Lucas, Washington; George B. Taylor, 53, director of the laboratory division of the Chestnut Farms dairy in Washington; and Francis R. Ehle, Riverton, N. J., president of the Internation Resistance company, of Philadelphia, and one of the few recognized authorities on television. The plane was a New York-Philadelphia high-speed Lockheed Vega monoplane, owned by the New York-Philadelphia Airines, apparently was gliding to a landing when its nose plummeted to the ground on the Cooper Creek golf course.
Attendants of the airport hurried to the scene but were unable to rescue any of the passengers because of the intense heat. Fireman extinguished the blaze.
Eye-witnesses of the tragedy said the pilots, evidently sensing the impending crash, tried to right the ship in a valiant effort to save the lives of the passengers.
John Jernette, station master at the airport, gave the first eye-witness story of the crash.
“I was standing near the terminal building,” he said, “when I saw the plane approaching the field, flying rather low, between 100 and 200 feet as it came from the northwest.
Bodies of All Victims Burned, as Ship Flames
(Continued From Page 1)
light, and saw the plane suddenly dive downward. It disappeared behind some trees and I heard the crash.
Could Do Nothing!
“I am not sure whether it was the crash of the plane or an accompanying explosion which filled the air. I hurried to the scene but found others there also. We could do nothing to rescue any of the passengers or the pilot. The heat was too great.”
Witnesses said the plane was flying at a moderate rate of speed when it suddenly burst into flames and turned over, crashing to the ground.
The entire ship seemed to catch fire at once, the witnesses said, and neither passengers nor pilot had time to leap to safety, had they tried.
Would-be rescuers said the dead were either killed or knocked unconscious by the fall, as they uttered no screams.
Known in Northwest
Lucas, pilot riding to Washington as a passenger, was 32 years old, was married and had four children. He had a record of 3,200 hours of flying time.
Lucas joined the army air corps in 1917 when a student at Minnesota State college. When he learned to fly he became a radio instructor and went through the war in that capacity. After the war he spent several years in the West and Northwest, barnstorming, and later became a pilot on one of the transcontinental air lines.
One of his thrilling experiences was to land his plane with a full load of passengers in a blizzard in New Mexico. The ship came down with the aid of light from a flare released by himself. He went through a fence, but none of the passengers was seriously injured.
Thousands of persons attracted by the crash and blaze jammed the golf course and airport property. All available police officers were called upon to guard the remnants of the plane.
The victims, as soon as they could be reached, were hurried to the nearest hospital but all were dead.
The plane was being landed to allow Ehle to go to his home at Riverton. His wife was waiting at the port to take him to his home where two children awaited his arrival to begin the evening meal. Mrs. Ehle became hysterical when the plane crashed and required the attention of a physician.
Pilot Cox died at his post, rescuers said. His body was found with one hand on the controls. The others in the plane were found in a heap inside the cabin. Coroner Melvine Kane, of Camden, who rushed to the scene immediately after the tragedy said: “The condition of the wreck made it useless to attempt to determine the cause of the crash.”
Lucas Was Hero of Dart to Save Child
Associated Press —
Camden, N. J., Nov. 5. —(AP)— Vernon R. Lucas, 32, one of five men killed in an airplane crash here tonight, played the hero last Sunday in attempting to save the life of a 3-year-old Orlando, Fla., girl.
The child, Margery Cohen, had swallowed a bone which lodged in her bronchial tubes. She was hurried by train and Lucas’ plane to Philadelphia, where a bronchoscope was used. Pneumonia, however, had developed in the 30-hour race and the child died.
Lucas flew Margery and her father, J. B. Cohen, from Washington to Camden in one hour and two minutes.
Lt. Lucas — about 1918
Five Killed When Air Liner Crashes
Charleston, West Virginia Daily Mail —
Plane Falls and Burns on Country Club Grounds Near Camden, N. J.
ATTEMPTING TO LAND
Craft Circling Airport When Accident Occurs; Cause Remains Unknown
CAMDEN, N. J., Nov. 6 (UP).— Five men died in the flaming wreckage of a fast express Newark-to-Washington plane near here last night. Investigators today said the cause of the crash probably never will be known.
The dead: Floyd C. Cox, 33 years old, pilot, of Washington, former linotype operator, who had flown 3,500 hours without an accident. Vernon Lucas, 32 years old, of Washington, another pilot who was riding “deadhead” to surprise his wife and four children who were waiting for him in Washington. Francis R. Ehle, 33 years old, of Riverton, N. J., president of the Internation Resistance company, of Philadelphia, and one of the few recognized authorities on television. George B. Taylor, 53 years old, Washington, laboratory director of the Chestnut Farms dairy. Elmer Smith, about 35 years old, Washington, advertising manager of the Washington Herald.
Witnesses Disagree
The plane plunged to the grounds of the Cooper River Country club, adjoining Central airport here, as it was circling for a landing. Some witnesses said they saw flames flash from the engine before it hit the ground; others said it burst into flames as it crashed.
The plane, a low-wing Lockheed passenger monoplane, was owned by the Ludington Airlines. It was not scheduled to stop here, but was making a special stop to allow Ehle, whose home is 16 miles from Philadelphia, to save time. His wife, Blanche, was waiting for him at the airport. She had required medical attention when she was told he had been killed. Their two children, Allice, 5 years old, and Francis, Jr. 3 years old, were waiting at home for their father.
Charles Ludwig, 14 years old, who lives near the airport and was watching the plane come in, said it was about 50 feet up when there was a flash of fire from the plane. A moment later the plane tilted as though the pilot were trying to side slip, to blow the fire out. The plane was righted immediately, then dropped to the ground. It dropped to the ground a moment later.
Quickly Destroyed
Within 15 minutes, nothing was left but the four-foot steel framework, still glowing red, and the charred bodies.
Lucas was born in Tulsa, Okla. He learned to fly in the army at Brooks Field, Texas. With the Continental Air Transport he had charge of the radio department. He had 4,000 hours in the air. He was an officer of the army air corps reserve. His home was 3400 Four-Mile Run, Va.
Cox, the pilot, was a linotype operator for the Sioux City, Iowa, Journal, when he took up flying in 1923. He became chief pilot at Washington airport in 1926. Later he was pilot on the Cleveland-Chicago run of Universal Air lines. In the same ship in which he died, he had set the speed record of 57 minutes for the flight between Washington and Newark. He was married and had no children.
Five Lose Lives as Air Liner Plunges to Ground
Reno, Nevada Evening Gazette —
Huge Craft Bursts Into Flames When It Ploughs Into Golf Course
Burned Wreckage Contains Only Information As to Disaster’s Cause
CAMDEN, N. J., Nov. 6. —(AP)— Five men — two pilots and three passengers — were burned to death when a Newark-to-Washington passenger air liner, maneuvering for a landing at the Camden airport last night, plummeted into the soft turf of a nearby golf course and burst into flames.
FIRE ENVELOPES SHIP
Something went wrong — an investigation today hoped to fix the responsibility — the plane dropped like a rose burying itself in two feet of earth. Flames wrapped about the wrecked liner as it struck the earth, driving back hundreds of persons who sped to the rescue of the crash victims. Terrific heat made rescue work impossible and the bodies of the victims could not be reached until the Pennsauken fire department had extinguished the flames.
At the controls of the ship was Floyd Cox, a veteran flier with more than three thousand hours of flying experience. In the cabin behind were Vernon Lucas, a fellow pilot going back to his Washington home after a flight to New York; Elmer Smith, advertising manager of the Washington Herald; George B. Taylor, director of the laboratory division of the Chestnut Farms dairy in Washington; and Francis R. Ehle, of Riverton, N. J., president of the International Resistance Company.
VICTIMS BURNED
All were burned beyond recognition, although none were crushed. Cox had his hand on the stick, apparently having died desperately striving to save the lives of himself and his charges.
Police of Camden and other towns were on duty during the evening and night, protecting the plane from those who sought a souvenir and also to keep it intact for investigators of the air line and national aeronautical men.
The plane, a low winged Lockheed Orion monoplane, owned by a subsidiary of the Ludington Lines, had left Newark, N. J., at 5:45 p.m. for Washington. It was operating on a sixty-two-minute schedule.
WIFE AWAITS SPOUSE
At the airport was Mrs. Blanche Ehle, awaiting the return of her husband from a business trip to New York. She and Ehle planned to hurry home to Riverton, where a small son and daughter awaited “daddy’s” arrival to start dinner. When the plane crashed, Mrs. Ehle screamed and fainted.
Pilot Cox and Vernon Lucas
Helena, Montana Independent —
Pilot Cox Enjoyed Creditable Record
Newark, N. J., Nov. 5. —(AP)— Floyd Cox, pilot of the plane which crashed at Camden early tonight, had a record of eight years of flying without an accident.
When he learned to fly he was employed in the composing room of the Sioux City, Iowa, Journal. At first he regarded flying as a sport, continuing to work as a linotype operator on the Tampa, Fla., Tribune, the Miami, Fla., Herald, the Denver Post and the New York Times and New York Herald-Tribune.
Believe Victim of Air Crash Former Great Falls Man
Great Falls, Nov. 7. — Vernon Lucas, killed in an airplane crash near Camden, N. J., Thursday, was a former Great Falls resident, pilots here believe. He is believed to be the same Lucas who at one time was employed by the Suhr Motor company and later was engaged in the radio business here. The Lucas killed in New Jersey was assistant pilot of a Ludington line plane operating between Washington and New York. The plane crashed and burned and two pilots and three passengers were killed.
The Lockheed Vega
This plane belonged to rival Continental Airlines. The Lockheed Vega was the plane of choice for long-distance aviators, including Amelia Earhart & Wiley Post.