Capt. Powell Killed in Leap
Air Force Pilot Leaves Parents Here
Article taken from The Portsmouth Times, April 5, 1952
Capt. Harold Emerson Powell, 29, of Columbus, former Portsmouth resident and a son of Mr. and Mrs. Delmar Powell of the Minford area lost his life in a jet plane accident at Zanesville Wednesday night.
The U.S. Air Force at Lockbourne air base at Columbus, did not release identification of the victim until this morning.
The plane accident was at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday and the body was not identified at Zanesville until two hours later.
The plane, an F-84 jet, was one of a flight of four on a training mission. The craft apparently developed engine trouble and Pilot Powell made a leap in an effort to save his life. His helmet was found on a street in Zanesville and when the body was recovered from a thicket his parachute was found to have opened only partially.
Muskingum sheriff's deputies headed a searching party that located the body in a thicket of saplings a mile from the wreckage of the plane.
Capt. Powell was reactivated in 1951 and relatives said he had only six months remaining on his present tour of duty.
Authorities at Lockbourne said Capt. Powell was with the 166th Fighter Squadron.
They said he entered the U.S. Air Force in 1942 and served 3 1/2-years in the Pacific as a pilot. Between the time of his discharge and recall in 1951, he was enrolled at Ohio State University in the College of Commerce.
A spokesman said two air force men in ambulances going to the scene were injured slightly in collisions.
Capt. Powell is survived by his wife, Miriam, a 2-year-old son, Phillip; his parents and a sister, Mrs. Eugene Martin.
The body was taken to the air base.
Wreckage of the plane was scattered over a wide area on the Arthur Smallwood farm near Route 42. The larger portion of the craft tore a crater in the ground 75 feet long, 40 feet wide and 14 feet deep.
Ralph Rehl, a neighbor of Smallwood, told deputy sheriff the plane was low over his barn.