ILL-FATED CRAFT Passengers board American Airlines NC12354, the Curtiss T-32 Condor airliner that crashed on June 9, 1934, into Last Chance Hill near Livingston Manor, killing all seven on board. Manor Ink photo
Legendary last flight over Last Chance Mountain
1934 crash brought notoriety to Manor
By Edward Lundquist | Manor Ink
In 1934, the Catskills experienced one of the most interesting, and tragic, occurrences in Livingston Manor’s history. In early June, a 16-passenger biplane plummeted from the sky, crashing into one of the peaks near Mongaup Lake known as Last Chance Mountain. The plane struck the hillside, launching three passengers clear of the metal coffin, and erupted into flame.
Airborne tragedy
The ill-fated American Airlines aircraft left Newark on Saturday afternoon bound for Syracuse and Chicago. While overflying the state of New York at an altitude of 2,000 feet, the crew encountered bad weather conditions and visibility that was reduced by heavy rain fall and clouds. The aircraft hit Last Chance Mountain, located in the Catskills mountain range some 17 miles northeast of Livingston Manor. The whereabouts of the plane unknown at first, rescuers only arrived on the scene two days later and no survivors were found among the debris. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post-crash fire.
A local official attributed the accident to an error caused by the pilot who had deviated from the prescribed flight route and apparently had tried to fly over hazardous terrain at an altitude too low for adverse meteorological conditions.
From the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives, baaa-acro.com.
At 4 p.m. on a Saturday, the American Airlines Curtiss Condor took off from Newark, en route to Chicago. The crew was comprised of pilot Clyde Holbrook, copilot John Barron and Ada Huckeby, the stewardess. The passengers were Harry Pinsley, a booking agent; Harold Coppins, a factory superintendent; William Cass, an executive of the same company; and E. W. B. Bader, a chemical engineer.
On that unlucky day, when all of these strangers came together, a worst nightmare became a reality. Flying through a storm mixed with fog, conditions were such that even an experienced pilot couldn’t handle them without modern technology. To quote a contemporary report in the Sullivan County Record, “The tragedy again proves that while the air has been conquered, storms and fog still remain the undefeated enemy of aviation and cannot be safely penetrated.”
W. H. Hallock was the first to discover the plane’s crash site, spotting a brown scar on the side of the mountain at around 11 a.m. on the following Monday. Dropping as low as possible in his own plane and confirming the wreckage location, he flew to the Manor to tell the news. The first to investigate were the captain of state police and two officers, along with Hallock and the town coroner. Following them were about one hundred searchers.
Upon arriving at the site, they found the charred corpses of the passengers. Thrown from the plane were Coppins, Pinsley and Huckeby, the latter two of which had both been engaged to be married to their respective fiances within a few months. As though through some dark irony, the flight was to have been the last plane trip Huckeby made before quitting her job as a stewardess.
TRAGEDY A photo of the wreckage from contemporary news reports. The plane was missing for two days before it was found in a remote region of the Catskills, not far from Livingston Manor. New York Times archive photo
Also scattered in the 80-foot scorched swath from the crash’s subsequent fire were two mailbags, one burned and one intact, and Bader’s personal luggage. Inside, the coroner identified several bottles filled with picric acid crystals, highly explosive, which had been completely undisturbed in the crash, along with some documents, which, to the untrained eye, were thought to be “secret government documents.” They were not, just papers for the factory, which alongside the crystals were asked to be returned.
Following the discovery of the crash, Livingston Manor and the surrounding area were thrown into turmoil, with press and sightseers coming from far and wide to witness what had happened.
Some wreckage may still be found on the mountain if you know where to look, or know someone who does. To read more about the crash, visit livingstonmanor.net/PlaneCrash/index.htm.