Col. T. L. Thurlow Killed In Air Crash Near Dallas Mon.

National Recognition Received As Navigator In World Flight of 1938

Col Thomas L. Thurlow, chief of the instrument and navigation branch of the Army material command a Wright Field, near Dayton Ohio, was killed Monday morning when a twin-engine cargo plane crashed in a wheat field west of Harry Hines Boulevard and burst into flames.
Also killed was First Lieut. Dion A. Hoy of Wright Field, whose home was at Southport, Conn.
Mrs. Thurlow is a former Lois Ford of Farmers Branch, the daughter of Mrs. H. M. Ford. She and Col. Thurlow, with their two sins, Thomas N. and Hugh Lawson, had been in Farmers Branch and Carrollton visiting friends.
Mrs. Thurlow had planned to return to their home near Dayton Ohio by train Monday afternoon.
Thurlow, who developed many navigational devices now used in war combat operations, gained national recognition as a navigator of Howard Hughes record-breaking around-the-world flight in 1938.
Officer at Wright Field said that Colonel Thurlow and Lieutenant Hoy were killed two minutes after the ship took off from Love Field base of the Fifth Ferrying Group in Dallas.
The crash was between 10 and 10:30 a.m. and the plane burned in the field on Trinity Farms property near Westmoreland and Rock Island crossing. Dallas firemen went to the scene, fought the flames for more than an hour.
The plane was on route to Midland Fifth Ferrying Group officers said.
Dan D. Rogers, vice president of the Mercantile National Bank of Dallas, was an eye-witness to the spectacular crash from his seat on the thirtieth floor penthouse of the bank in town about seven miles away.
I was sipping a cup of coffee, looking out of the window, when I first noticed the plane he said. I had my eye on it when it appeared to be flying at an altitude of about 1,000 feet.
Suddenly it slipped into a dive and the plane hit the ground with a terrific  impact. I saw an explosion and flames and smoke shot up. Black smoke poured from the plane. Then I saw other planes fly over head and circle the spot.
Col. Thurlow is survived by his wife and two sons his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas H. Thurlow, and one sister, Miss Florence Ella Thurlow, all of Venice, California. Funeral services were at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the H. M. Ford residence in Farmers Branch. Interment was at Webb's Chapel cemetery.
Military services where held, with escort from Wright Field. Col. Thurlow's parents and sister were here for the funeral.

The Carrollton Chronicle - June 23, 1944
Submitted by Edward L. Williams