Bail-Out

One morning last week a C82 lifted from a runway at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., carrying a load of paratroopers for a practice jump. A flock of starlings, startled from the trees, swept across its nose. They were drawn in by the thrashing propellers. The carburetor air intakes of both engines suddenly became choked with dead birds, the engines faltered. Pilot Robert Kilpatrick shouted to a crewman to push the jump bell.

In the rear end of the plane, Sergeant Robert Lee Hodgkiss, 24, acting as safety man, heard the bell. The plane had only an altitude of about 400 feet, less than half the normal height for training jumps. But Hodgkiss sensed disaster, yelled: "Stand up, hook up, jump!" There was only time for Hodgkiss to see that all chutes were hooked to the static line. In seven seconds (half the usual minimum time) 36 men went out through the two doors. It was Hodgkiss' turn. He took a look. By this time the shuddering C82 was too low for him to get out. Sergeant Hodgkiss sat down and braced himself.

Two pines snagged the plane's wings. The C82 lurched, crashed, burst into flames. Pilot Kilpatrick and two crewmen died in their seats. A pilot instructor and a lieutenant observer got out. Cool-headed Sergeant Hodgkiss also tumbled out, unhurt. Said he of his thoughts in the few seconds before the crash, "I just sat there and thought about my wife, Pearl Lucille. We've only been married nine months."

All but one paratrooper survived. Pfc. Virgil Votava, one of the last to jump, died this week of injuries.

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