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Eddie Rickenbacker plane crash...
Eddie Rickenbacker plane crash...
Item # 565773
February 28, 1941
THE NEW YORK TIMES, New York, NY, February 28, 1941
* Eddie Rickenbacker airplane crash disaster
* World War I ace pilot
This 40 page newspaper has a two column headline on the front page: "7 DEAD, 9 INJURED IN CRASH OF PLANE OUTSIDE ATLANTA" with subheads that include: "Rickenbacker Is Injured" "World War Ace in Serious Condition..." and more. (see)
Lengthy reporting continues on page 12 with related photos including the wreck and Rickenbacker. (see) Nice to heave in this famous NYC title.
Other news of the day throughout. Light browning , otherwise in good condition.
wikipedia notes: Rickenbacker often traveled for business on Eastern Airlines flights. On February 26, 1941, he was a passenger on a DC-3 which crashed outside Atlanta, Georgia. Rickenbacker suffered grave injuries, was soaked in fuel, and was immobile and trapped in the wreckage. In spite of his own critical wounds, Rickenbacker encouraged the uninjured passengers, offered what consolation he could to those around him who were injured or dying, and guided the still-mobile survivors to attempt to find help. They were rescued after spending the night at the crash site. Rickenbacker barely survived. This was the first time the press announced his death while he was still alive.
In a dramatic retelling of the incident, Rickenbacker's autobiography relates his astonishing experiences. While still conscious but in terrible pain, Rickenbacker was left behind while ambulances transported bodies of those killed. When he arrived at a hospital, his injuries appeared so grotesque that doctors left him for dead for some time, instructing staff to "take care of the live ones."[14] Rickenbacker's injuries included a dented skull, other head injuries, shattered left elbow and crushed nerve, paralyzed left hand, several broken ribs, a crushed hip socket, twice-broken pelvis, severed nerve in his left hip, and a broken left knee. His left eyeball was expelled from the socket.[15] He recovered from these after months in the hospital and regained full eyesight.
Rickenbacker described the experience with vivid accounts of his mental state as he approached death, emphasizing the supreme act of will necessary to stave it off. His autobiography reported that he spent ten days on the brink of death, which he illustrated as an overwhelming sensation of calm and pleasure.
Category: The 20th Century
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