Lt. Don Hash (Retired) of the Maryland State Police, the first emergency responder to arrive at the plane crash site east of Elkton on December 8, 1963, recently talked to the Singerly Fire Company Museum about his recollections of that dark night in a Maryland cornfield where 81-people perished.
On that stormy December Sunday evening in 1963, Trooper Hash, a 23-old rookie one year out of the academy, was cruising northbound on Route 213 near Brantwood Golf Course. With an unusual late fall thunderstorm rolling 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 flew for 10 to 15 seconds before a wing fell off, and the plane nosed straight down into the ground. Trooper Hash radioed the barrack as he raced toward the crash, somewhere east of Elkton near the state line.
Don, who retired from the State Police as a lieutenant, talked to us on June 9, 2011, about his experience on that troubling, unforgettable experience. The first emergency responder to arrive, he remarked: “I could see flames on Delancy Road as I 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 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 rushed troopers from other barracks to help the three roadmen patrolling the county that night. In a few minutes, the fire company arrived, and during the next hour, officers from across the state arrived to help. Trooper Don Hash stayed on location throughout that long night until he was relieved the next morning.
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Lt. Don Has (ret.) of the Maryland State Police recalls arriving on the scene of the Elkton plane crash.
my dad i am very proud of his career and to have him as a dad and a role model
Wow, what a nice article about our friend, Don. I know that he was there
for everyone who needed him.
Bob and Frieda
Thanks John. I enjoyed talking to Lt. Hash. HIs precise, detailed recollections of what happened 50 years ago were most informative. We talked about a few other things that were going on in that era such as Cambirdge, Bel Air and things and he shared some of his experiences there on the tape. We’ll put that recording in the historical society collection.
I was studying in my dorm room at the University of Delaware that Sunday night. A thunderstorm was in progress, which I thought was unusual in December. About 9:00 PM I heard a loud noise more like an explosion than thunder. Goose bumps ran through me. My room in Brown Hall faced West instead of South, so I didn’t see the aircraft go down. I could not imagine the noise being anything but thunder, so forgot about it until the next morning.
I did considerable research on this accident later. The Pan Am Boeing 707 was the only known airliner in history (and to this day) to have been brought down by lightning. The Civil Aeronautics Board determined the probable cause as “lightning-induced ignition of the fuel/air mixture in the No 1 (left) reserve fuel tank with resultant explosive disintegration of the left outer wing and loss of control.” This accident prompted the FAA to require all airlines to install static discharge wicks on the trailing edges of wing and tail surfaces. Static discharge wicks allow static electricity to be bled off as it occurs instead of building up in one spot.
This particular Boeing 707 was the first 707 delivered to a U.S. airline. It even had a name: Clipper Tradewind, and was registered as N709PA. Flight 214 was returning from San Juan, PR with a stop in Baltimore before proceeding to Philadelphia. It had flown earlier that day from Philadelphia to Baltimore to San Juan as Flight 213.
I left a copy of the 24 page CAB Accident Report and some other information with the Cecil County Library about 10-15 years ago.
Just a minor correction to my comments. The Boeing 707, Clipper Tradewind, N709PA, was the first pure jet airliner (not a jet-prop) delivered by a U.S. manufacturer (Boeing) to any airline. United Airlines had flown the French built pure jet Caravelle since the late 1950’s.
” This accident prompted the FAA to require all airlines to install static discharge wicks on the trailing edges of wing and tail surfaces. Static discharge wicks allow static electricity to be bled off as it occurs instead of building up in one spot.” But it was a lightening strike, not static electricity, that ignited the fuel vapor.
Thanks for sharing that Dave.
Elizabeth Shea, a Salem, NJ attorney, her husband, and two other friends were on that tragic flight. My mother remembers running into her a couple of weeks before the crash while she was shopping in Salem.
Jeff thanks so much for sharing that with Window on Cecil County’s Past.
Thanks for sharing this story. You have lots of readers that enjoy the work you are doing sharing the stories of Cecil County. Thanks
Thanks Denny.
Don Hash good man, member of our Church.., Baldwin Methodist church…beautiful wife Carol too.. I too had a GF fathers dispatched from Bainbridge Navy her father was one sent to the scene.., we were in second grade..
It was a Black day… very Saddddd…I had heard ???The President of Campbell soup was on board also… very saddd…😔