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SGT Charles Hartke in front of '746 on the morning of the last flight. (Photo courtesy Charles Hartke) 23 year old Charles Hartke was in the right scanner position on the flight. Charles Hartke was a radio operator on flight '746. He shared the job with the other radio operator, John DeRoth. Hartke had performed the radio operator job on the way up to B.C. DeRoth was performing the job on the way back, including at the time of the accident. Hartke remembers sitting in the complete darkness of the waist area,
watching out the waist gunner window as horizontal snow flurries were lit up by the
flashing green wingtip light. He heard a rare (at that time) female air traffic control
operator trying to contact the plane. After the second attempt, he prepared to click
his intercom to tell the captain ATC was calling. At that moment they hit. Below is his official account recorded in the accident report: I was in the right scanner's seat from the beginning of the flight from
Sandspit, B.C. to McChord AFB on Jan 19, 1952. As we neared Patricia bay, I switched to
command position to find out how far we were from McChord. I heard the pilot report to
Patricia Bay and heard the change in range quadrants. I can't remember positively whether
the pilot reported over Dungeness Intersection, but I believe he did. Seattle radio was
calling us and the pilot answered but they evidently did not hear us. Everett radio or
some station nearby answered us and the pilot asked him what message Seattle radio had for
us. They came back with a message but the radio was blocked by static as we entered a
snowstorm and very rough air. About that time I fastened my seatbelt because the
turbulence had lifted me off the seat several times. The pilot asked the radio station to
repeat his message, but at that time we struck the mountain. My seat tore from its mounts
and I believe I was in the aisle in the waist. For a brief instant we came to a stop. SGT
Farmer asked who was there and I said Hartke. I unsnapped my seatbelt and before we could
move out, the plane began to move again. The plane stopped for an instant, one or possibly
two more times down the slope before we came to a complete stop. When we did stop, I
snapped off my quick release and followed SGT Farmer out of a hole in the left side of the
fuselage. The plane was burning forward on the way down but did not burn very bad until
approximately 30 minutes after the plane stopped. The fire seemed to be confined to the
right bomb bay and the wing, inboard of #4 engine. A few minutes after SGT Farmer and I
got out, Capt Sentner came around from the nose, or what would be the nose; the URC-4 was
laying a short distance from the hole in the waist and we opened it and began transmitting
"MAYDAY" on 121.5 mcs. At about this same time, SGT Scargall was heard yelling
up the slope and we guided him down by voice and whistles from our Mae Wests. A short time
later, Capt Hybki was heard up the slope and SGT Farmer guided him down the same was as
before. When we were all together, we salvaged what equipment we could find by the
firelight and prepared to spend the night. We did not know until morning of the mountains
surrounding us and that the URC-4 would not be effective. The CRT-3 was wedged in by the
tail wheel and could not be removed.
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