Tallahassee, Florida, USA
1956 - THUNDERCLOUD CAUSED TYNDALL JETS TO COLLIDE. CAPT. WILLERFORD'S BODY FOUND IN PLANE WRECKAGE.

Tallahassee, Fla., Sept. 25 (AP) - The death toll in the crash of two jet planes being evacuated from the path of Hurricane Flossy rose to five today with discovery of the body of CAPT. ROBERT D. WILLERFORD of Tyndall Field.

He died in the wreckage of his plane after it had collided in flight with a second jet which landed on an isolated house 12 miles east of here, killing an expectant mother and her three small children.

The pilot of the other plane, LT. RODERICK ADAMS of Macon, Miss., parachuted to safety and was only slightly hurt. His abandoned craft struck the home of MRS. MARY ELLA WALKER, 23-year-old Negro mother, killing her and PHILIP, JR., 3, DOROTHY, 2, and MARY LEE, 1.

The small frame house of the WALKERS burned to the ground. The father, Philip Walker, a laborer employed by the city of Tallahassee, was at work at the time.

ADAMS landed in a wooded area and was picked up about an hour after the crash when he walked to a road. WILLERFORD'S plane crashed about five miles from the WALKER home.

ADAMS said he and the other pilot were flying near each other when their planes headed into a thundercloud.

Panama City News-Herald
Panama City, Florida
September 26, 1956

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