Recollections
from the plane crash, April 27, 1961
#1
"I do however remember the
crash at Morris Park Elementary School in '61. I had just left the
school and was about three blocks away when the plane hit… I
finished my walk home and my father picked me up in his car and we drove
back and saw the plane… It was a private Cessna type aircraft.
Single prop I would imagine. It dove straight into the parking lot
and into the first floor school rooms on the northwest side of the
building. It was not a pretty sight. I am not sure but I
think we had no school for a few days after that, while they cleaned it
all up".
#2
"On a whim I decided to
search recently for info about the 1961 plane crash at Morris Park
Elementary, and happened upon this site. It’s interesting that
there’s not much else out there. Since I was in the school
building at the time of the crash, I thought I’d contribute my memories
of the incident, for what they’re worth…
As I recall, it happened about 20 minutes or so
after school let out for the day. I was still there feeding the
fifth-grade hamsters, in a second-floor room across the hall from the
rooms that were damaged. I heard a loud boom and went to the door
where I found teachers hurrying kids out of the east side door – the
plane had hit on the west side (38th Avenue), in the small front parking
lot where teachers parked their cars. I don’t think the school
building itself was directly hit, although there was some fire damage to
some of the rooms on that side. I remember bumping into the crabby
teacher (Mrs. Olson?), and when she didn’t yell at me I knew something
serious was up, and that frightened me more than the noise – but this
might be a later interpretation rather than a real memory. From
the playground/parking lot on the east side of the school I could see a
large column of black smoke on the other side of the building, but
didn’t know what had happened yet. I ran across the playing field
to 40th Avenue and saw a fire truck coming from the station on 40th or
41st and about 57th or 58th Street. It seems unlikely there would
be only one, but that’s what I remember; and back then neighborhood fire
stations didn’t have the large array of equipment they do now.
We lived four houses down from the south corner of
the school, across the street. My mother said when she looked out
the front door after hearing the sound, she saw a wall of flame
obscuring the whole front of the school. I don’t know how much of
that was the exaggeration of panic. I recall a distinct column,
not a wide extent of smoke. When I was told my mother was looking
for me, I went to the front of the school. The fire was out by
that time. I don’t remember seeing the plane, or when I learned
that was what had happened, there were many people milling around.
There was also fire damage to the house immediately to the north of the
school. At least into the 1980s, you could still see the vertical
scar in an elm tree on the boulevard that was also damaged. Google
streetview now - It shows a new young tree there.
Rumors started immediately – the pilot was with a
woman who wasn’t his wife. He had radioed in that he was going to
deliberately crash in the parking lot because he was afraid he couldn’t
make it to the playing field on the other side, and didn’t want to hit
the school. An engine had landed in a backyard half a block away
and a wing had landed on the roof of the school. I think the last
may have been true, because from the upper floor of a house 2 houses
away I remember seeing something sticking out past the edge of the
school roof on the western part of the south side.
I don’t recall if school was cancelled the next
day or not. I was probably was kept home since my mother had gone
into shock. I seem to recall it was near the end of the school
year, April or May. Certainly there were no counselors to go to in
the schools those days if something traumatic happened.
For some years, I had a shoebox of bits of metal
parts I picked up from the parking lot area in the next few days –
little springs, bolts, etc. It disappeared long ago – probably a
good thing, because it smelled of whatever the fire department had
sprayed on the fire. In the mid-'90s I found the letter the
Metropolitan Airports Commission (I think) wrote in reply to a letter
from my father. It was short, a basic thanks-for-your-concern sort
of thing; and as I recall said only that the single-occupant plane (so
much for the mystery female rumor) had developed engine
trouble shortly after take-off. I
don’t recall if it said the pilot was trying to return to the airport or
not. That letter has long gone, also."
#3
"I was standing on the corner
waiting for a friend when the plane crashed in front of me. I
actually saw it crash. It did happen after school was out. I
was a “safety patrol” crossing guard. I remember everyone saying
it was a miracle it happened after school was out.
It did crash into that little parking
lot. School didn’t close because of this. My classroom (Mrs.
Erskine-6th grade) and the downstairs classroom (Miss Monroe) were
damaged. For a week or two we had class in the library. I
vividly remember the SMELL of our classroom. I also remember all
the rumors that were flying while the FAA was raking the wreckage:
They found another arm, a hand, a finger…all to make the whole thing
scarier. The pilot was the only one on the plane."
#4
"History of Minneapolis Plane
Crashes" - Google search
#5
"The date of the plane crash that
happened in the parking lot of Morris Park Elementary School was April
27, 1961. It was a beautiful day, until that crash. It was
one of the first warm days of the Spring season, and it was a good day
to be outside after school." |
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More recollections
from the plane crash, April 27, 1961
#6
"I hope this will add a little more light on
the subject. I was in the school when the plane hit. My second grade
teacher made me stay after for not paying attention in class. When the
plane hit the tree and spun into the parking lot we heard the explosion and were
told to leave the school out the east side. I could see the smoke coming
up from the west side as I left. Running around the 56th Street side I got
there before the fire truck did. One of the engines was between the school
and the house to the north that was damaged in the crash; the second was under a
car in the parking lot up against the school. There was a pretty big crowd
by this time. I was right up front. The next thing I remember is my mom
grabbing the collar of my shirt from behind and jerking me over about ten rows
of people with my little brother in one arm and dragging me home with the other,
telling me I had scared her to death by not coming home right away.
To back up now just a little, my older brother had already come home after
school, got his ball glove, and was headed back to the park to play ball.
We lived right across the street from the school. As he got to 56th
Street, he saw the plane going down. He was the one that ran and turned in
the alarm on 56th and 38th by Meyers store. What he said he saw just
before the crash and others said they saw the same thing, was they saw the pilot
looked as if he was trying to wave at the kids to get them off the ball
field---as if he was trying to put the plane down on the ball field. We
still to this day think the pilot realized there were too many kids; and instead
of risking their lives he went to plan B. Things could have been much
different that April day if it had not been for the pilot's heroism."
Roger Johnson, Gunnison, Colorado -
11/7/11 |
