Late on the night of March 16, 1934, Ottumwa were startled to hear a plane overhead -- night flights were almost unheard of in those days -- followed by the sudden splash of light from an aircraft flare, dropped from an Army Air Corps plane carrying the US Mail.
Earlier that day, Lt. W.L. Coln took off from Chicago with a load of mail, headed to the western United States. But the Midwest was closed in by fog, and his plane was running low on fuel when Coln spotted city lights below him. He released a flare, spotted a field near a river, and brought his plane down safelyinto the Community Gardents in Ottumwa's Central Addition, just south of the Des Moines River.
For more information on the Michael Lemberger Collection visit https://aspace.lib.uiowa.edu/repositories/2/resources/3157
Comments:
Late on the night of March 16, 1934, Ottumwa were startled to hear a plane overhead -- night flights were almost unheard of in those days -- followed by the sudden splash of light from an aircraft flare, dropped from an Army Air Corps plane carrying the US Mail. Earlier that day, Lt. W.L. Coln took off from Chicago with a load of mail, headed to the western United States. But the Midwest was closed in by fog, and his plane was running low on fuel when Coln spotted city lights below him. He released a flare, spotted a field near a river, and brought his plane down safelyinto the Community Gardents in Ottumwa's Central Addition, just south of the Des Moines River. For more information on the Michael Lemberger Collection visit https://aspace.lib.uiowa.edu/repositories/2/resources/3157