In Memory
Charles S. Swartz
2/10/1941 - 3/26/1967
A Civil Aeronautics Board investigator was to begin today, an examination of the plane wreckage in which a 26-year-old Mishawaka businessman, who resided in South Bend was killed Sunday morning during take-off from Sportsman Air Field in Mishawaka.
Charles S. Swartz, 2530 Club Dr., South Bend, crashed about 100 feet from a Day Rd. residence as he attempted to guide his sputtering single-engine craft back to the landing strip.
The crash was witnessed by St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph DeBoever, who was driving on normal patrol on Day Rd. about 8:50 a.m.
Witnesses said the plane, a 1953 Tri Pacer, took off in a southwesterly direction, and crossed over Day Rd. when the engine began sputtering.
The pilot, who held a student license and had a total flight time of 54 Hours, apparently attempted to turn the plane in a northerly direction to return to the field.
The craft lost altitude. Then it crashed in the backyard of the William P. Howard residence, 12950 Day Rd.
According to Sheriff Elmer Sokol and Ralph Hixson, principal general operations inspector of the Federal Aviation Agency, the plane apparently landed on its left wing, bounced, nosed over and burst into flames.
The plane was on fire when Deputy DeBoever arrived at the scene.
Spewing gasoline ignited dry grass in the yard but no damage was done to the residence, Sokol said. The Howards were in church when the crash occurred.
Sokol said that considerable sawing and cutting was required to free the victim from the twisted cockpit.
The body was identified by a set of “dog tags” on a key chain found in the ashes. Swartz who was employed in a family enterprise, the Sun Master Awnings, Inc., 905 E. Jefferson Blvd., Mishawaka, had served in the Air Force, the tags indicated.
The works of a wrist watch were also discovered in the ashes. The hands showed 8:50. The case was strapped to the victim’s wrist, Sokol said.
Hixson said today that CAB investigator Vic Lazar of Chicago would examine the plane’s 135 horsepower engine.
Swartz had 25 hours of dual flying time and 29 hours of solo experience.
Emergency workers from the Sheriff’s Department, the Indiana State Police and township fire departments were at the scene.
02/16/2021 DEC
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