It was a hot, sunny Thursday in July. United Flight 823 was bound from Philadelphia International Airport in Pennsylvania to Huntsville International Airport in Alabama. At about 6:15 p.m. on July 9, 1964, the Vickers Viscount 745D with registration N7405 went down about 2.25 miles northeast of Parrottsville, crashing on a hilltop. All 39 people onboard died.
The crash happened next to Mae Trentham’s family farm, and grazed the Trentham property before crashing. The Trentham family, according to reports, helped rescuers and investigators with water and food and became the unofficial headquarters for the crash site recovery and investigation.
Tip Brown recalls getting the call about the plane crash. A funeral director, the hearses were used as ambulances as well during that time. He said he was the first ambulance driver to arrive on the scene, and when he got there, what he saw was “horrific.”
First responders were climbing up to the top of the steep hill where the plane had crashed, and he said men were running with fire extinguishers trying to put out the fires that were around the hillside, which included the bodies of the victims. He said only one body remained intact, and that was a passenger who is believed to have jumped from the number four escape window before the plane made impact with the ground.
A makeshift morgue was set up at Cocke County Memorial Building, and Brown said the families of all 39 crash victims did receive remains for burial. However, there were other body parts that had been left behind. These body parts were not as easily identified, so they were put together in a casket and buried in Union Cemetery.
“The agreement with United Airlines was that the grave would never be marked,” Brown recalled. However, in recent years, a marker has been placed on the grave memorializing those who lost their lives in the tragic crash.
According to news articles and reports from authorities, a fire broke out in the passenger cabin. The Aircraft Accident Report published by the Civil Aeronautics Board in June 1966, close to two years after the crash, said, “The Board is unable to identify the source of fuel, the ignition point of the fire, or the cause of the final maneuver.” The investigation found that probable reason for the crash was what was referred to as “an uncontrollable in-flight fire, of undetermined origin, in the fuselage, which resulted in a loss of control of the aircraft.”
When speaking at a Newport Rescue Squad banquet, Newell “Hop” Byrd recalled arriving on the scene and climbing the steep embankment.
“There were 39 people in total on that plane, and only one man was intact when we picked up the pieces,” he said.
He recalled climbing up the embankment to reach the wreckage. Byrd had a five-gallon bucket with a pump attached to it on his back as he made the trek because the crash had caused a fire.
“When I made it up that bluff, the first thing I saw was a little boy burning,” he said. “I started pumping water and then my knees just went out from under me. I fell to the ground against a tree.”
He said that outsiders that had made their way up to the wreckage started taking personal belongings that had been scattered in the crash. “They were grabbing up pocketbooks and money and wallets and other things that people had on the plane,” he said.
Byrd was given a pillowcase to gather up personal items to keep the scavengers from stealing the personal effects of the crash victims.
Two children were among those killed in the crash. The children included a 12-year-old girl traveling unaccompanied and a 5-year-old boy who was undergoing treatment for leukemia.
Reports indicate that about 33,000 pounds of the 40,000-pound aircraft was recovered from the crash site, but it is believed that much of the missing weight was cabin furnishings destroyed by the fire.
Gayla Hommel, who is now the mayor of Parrottsville, remembers being taken to the crash site by her grandfather after it was cleaned up. “It was horrible,” she recalled. “It’s something you don’t forget.”
Remembering the passengers and crew of Flight 823
Source: unitedflight823.com
Passengers:
Mrs. Margaret Anderson, Huntsville, AL
Robert Anderson, 9, Huntsville, AL
Miss Nancy Anderson, 6, Huntsville, AL
Miss Linda Baker, 11 Wilmington, DE
J.M. Burroughs, engineer, DuPont Corp., Chattanooga,TN
Mrs. Mary Chesney, Donora, PA
Mr. Robert R. Cramer, 36, DuPont Corp., Chattanooga, TN
Dr. Michael Cross, School of Medicine, SUNY, Buffalo, NY
Burton Edward Crowder, 38, Knoxville, TN
Mr. Durant da Ponte, 46, Knoxville, TN, University of Tennessee
Mr. Selmer Denver Ford, maintenance supv., DuPont Corp. Chattanooga, TN
Dr. Philip H. Geisler, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA, author
Mr. Robert Hall, Washington, DC
Mr. Harry Avis Hall, 64, Washington, DC
Richard Harper Jr., 4, Knoxville, TN
Mrs. Richard (Freda Ruth) Harper, 29, Knoxville, TN
Mr. Roger Hanger, Cleveland, TN
Mr. Paul Hester, Nashville, TN
Mr. Joseph Hobbins, 36, Acoustical Engineer, College Park, Maryland
Dr. R.H. Levin, senior investigator, Medicine Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, author
Dr. Alfred Leitner, 32, Allentown, PA, Harvard Medical School
Mr. George L. Leupold, 59, Knoxville, TN
Mr. John Joseph McHale, 32, Blackwood, NJ, chemist, DuPont Corp.
Lt. Frank O'Brien, United States Navy, Knoxville, TN
Mr. Sam Orleans, 64, Knoxville, TN, filmmaker
Mr. Paul G. Pohl, Springfield, MA
Mrs. Ruth McKevitt Pohl, Springfield, MA
Mrs. Elizabeth Chesney Richardson, Donora, PA
Paul Roark, 28, Oneida, TN
G. Stephen Roeschen, 18, Huntingdon Valley, PA
Larry D. Shaffer, Oak Ridge, TN
Mr. Roger Stuart, Syracuse, NY
Mr. Hugh M. Taylor, 38, Morristown,TN
Mr. Frank Tosca, 44 Brockton, MA, Tosca Brothers Construction, Avon, MA
Mr. William Whittaker, Donora, PA
Crew:
Captain Oliver E. Sabatke, 41, Washington, DC. Gravesite: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington Virginia.
First Officer Charles L. Young, 37, Baltimore, MD
Stewardess Carole L. Berndt, 21, Youngstown, OH
Stewardess Virginia Kay Vollmer, 22, Pittsburgh, PA
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