Recently my cousins Shirley Blakeney, Elaine Bean and I were discussing events that took place during their early teens. Somehow, the conversation drifted off to plane crashes. Shirley remembered the construction of the Kindley Air Field runway in 1943 and recalled the thunderous, deafening sound of aircraft flying over her childhood home on Wellington Hill — directly in the flight path. She also recalled, as a little girl, her father taking her on to the veranda to show her a plane that crashed, barely missing the Severn Bridge. They both recounted the news reports of the crash in the early-morning hours of December 6, 1952 and then they recalled sitting on the St George’s Golf Course, peeling and eating prickly pears when they saw an air force plane barely missing the oil docks and crashing into the sea.

In recounting this story to my husband, he gave his take on the crash.

He was about 7 when 29-year-old Alice Ebanks, one of the four survivors returning from the tragedy to stay with his grandparents, Mr and Mrs Arthur Bascome. He remembers her as a light-skinned woman of medium height with jet-black hair and an unusual accent. She was Cuban and had been residing with them for about two years before her departure.

He remembered the night she was leaving, as they were allowed to stay up late to bid farewell to Aunt Alice, as they called her. She was dressed in a well-fitted skirt, and jacket and high heels — she wore lipstick and make-up, which reminded him of a movie star. His Uncle Albert was accompanying her to the airport and he observed that there were two suitcases and a small overnight bag on the veranda. She was returning to her home in Cuba on holiday.

Early the next morning, the family were shocked when they, as her next of kin, were informed that the plane had crashed. They were understandably upset and anxious to know whether she had survived. She had been taken to the Kindley Field Base Hospital and later transferred to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, where she stayed for several days with an injury to her knee, and was later discharged to the care of his grandparents. The Simmons family lived on Dundonald Street, Hamilton, in one house but in a separate apartment from his grandparents. Every morning, my husband’s parents insisted they visit their grandparents and Aunt Alice before going off to school. It was during those early-morning visits that she thanked God for sparing her life and shared with the four Simmons boys the horror she had just survived. She was usually in bed, but as time passed she would be up and about.

She recalled noticing upon take-off an unusual noise coming from one of the engines, and they were hurriedly advised to secure their seatbelts. Within seconds, there was a large jolt and the back of the aircraft, where she was seated, separated from the rest. This was followed by a loud explosion. She could hear people crying out as she fell into the ocean below, which suddenly was on fire. She was able to free herself and swim away. At one point, she thought she heard a baby crying and when she swam in that direction she reached out for the child, only to discover it was just an arm. Every morning she related more and more of the horrific experience. In retrospect, my husband feels those early-morning visits, though frightening to them, were therapeutic for her.

Aunt Alice remained with the family for three more years. During that time, it is recorded that in 1953 she made financial donations to the Howard Academy, and in 1954 to the Children’s Hospital and the Dr H.C. Curtis Memorial Fund. It is known that when she finally left Bermuda, she travelled to America. It is unknown whether she travelled by air or sea; however, in the 1980s, my husband’s brother Leon, was travelling to Trinidad when his mother gave him her address. She was elated that the family still remembered her and that he had taken the time to visit. By then she was in her sixties and bedridden. Whatever happened during most of her life and after he last saw her remains a mystery, as all relatives are deceased.

Newspaper reports stated that Alice Ebanks had been employed for two years as a nursemaid for the three children of Mr and Mrs Hughes Blake, from Fairylands, Pembroke. At that time, Mr Blake was the vice-president of American International. It further stated that she was the fiancée of Graham Andrew Kennedy, son of Ada Kennedy from Spanish Point, and was returning to Cuba to spend Christmas with her family.

At that time, the Douglas DC-4 was a four-engine, propeller-driven aircraft in the fleet of Cubana de Aviacion, Cuba’s oldest and largest airline, which was founded in 1929. Its local agent was Pan American Airlines.

The flight originated in Madrid, refuelled in the Azores and then continued on to Bermuda to refuel on the last leg of its journey to Cuba. There were 33 passengers, including children and eight crew on board. The three passengers who joined the flight in Bermuda were Alice Ebanks, and Mr and Mrs Luis Tagle, who had been visiting on their honeymoon. There were no Bermudians on the flight.

The flight landed in Bermuda at 3.30am and departed at 4.45am using the short-arm runway that ran north to south. Within minutes of take-off, the plane crashed tailfirst into the sea two miles off Castle Harbour in an area where sharks were known to gather. Reports stated that the cause of the crash was undetermined and there were no messages from the pilot, Captain Lewis Sastre, who was not listed among the four survivors. The crash remains as the worst disaster in Bermuda’s aviation history.

Bermuda had been well prepared for this type of rescue operation, as Kindley Air Force Base imported and operated crash boats specifically for such emergencies. (A crash boat is a fast boat used to rescue pilots, crew and passengers from a downed aircraft in search-and-rescue and air-sea rescue missions.)

It was a quiet morning when Elaine Fox’s grandmother went outside to dip water from the tank and heard the plane taking off. In another St David’s household, Ronnie Chameau was awake. She had a tooth extracted the day before and the area was bleeding. Her mother and aunt were attending to her when they heard the plane backfiring, followed by an explosion. They immediately raced to Clarke’s Hill to get a glimpse of what had happened.

On that fateful morning, the pilot boat St George left St David’s towing a small dingy complete with oars. It was one of the first to reach the spot where the Cuban airline Star of the East had crashed. The boat was skippered by pilot warden Captain Stanley Burns. On board were coxswain Ira Lamb, engine driver Gerald Brangman, as well as James Foggo, Grover Lamb and Headley Millett.

Upon reaching the crash location, Foggo and Lamb got into the dingy, which had no lights. Fuel was burning on the water, but these brave men were able to pick up one of the survivors, Adelida Arsenal, who was clinging to her dead husband, as well as an American sergeant who had jumped overboard from one of the crash boats to assist.

Seven passengers were pulled out alive, but three died shortly thereafter.

Foggo used a boat hook in an attempt to rescue a little girl in a blue jacket. Unfortunately, the jacket came off, causing her to fall and sink into the rough sea.

A number of boats came to help but they were unable to locate any survivors. All they saw were floating bodies, debris, pillows and luggage. Roy Taylor was there in Wally II, Campbell O’Connor in The Dianna and Charles Christensen in Dolphin. There was also the Biological Station boat as well as the St David’s ferry, The Village Queen. A number of smaller boats arrived to assist, but eventually the chilly water and increasing wind forced all but Wally II and Dolphin to abandon the search.

The US Coast Guard cutter Yakutat proceeded from Penno’s Wharf in St George’s to the scene, carrying flares and a raft. By 6am, there were three planes in the air and a navy crash boat.

The first plane, an SB-29 from the 29th air rescue squadron was over the area within 11 minutes, and within 40 minutes the 85ft crash boat was on the job, followed by the cutter Yakutat — and in another 15 minutes they were joined by other craft looking for survivors among the dead.

Alice Ebanks and Orlando Lopez, the 21-year-old steward, were found hanging on to a deflated life raft. Lopez, who had worked for the airline for three years, was not seriously injured, but Alice, described as the heroine of the entire ordeal, remained very calm. She had two bad gashes near her eyes and an ugly cut to her knee.

The cutter’s surf boat, propelled by six oarsmen, came upon a very small rowboat carrying another survivor. (A surf boat is designed to enter the ocean in heavy surf or severe waves.)

All survivors were taken to St George’s Harbour, transferred to a crash boat and then to shore.

In Dockyard, the tug Justice, skippered by Harold Aitken, a Board of Trade superintendent engineer, was called to assist. At 10am, they collected a small party of divers, their equipment and doctors from the HMS Superb. Unfortunately, the roughness of the weather prevented them from doing any investigation. The seas were so heavy that the tug was continuously awash, and the winds rising from 30mph to 40mph forced them to return to Dockyard at 2pm.

The bodies of the deceased were fingerprinted, colour of eyes, hair and condition of teeth were recorded, and then they were embalmed. In Cuba, it was a requirement that all citizens applying for a passport be fingerprinted. The seven deceased Cuban crew members were returned to their homeland, while the other passengers remained until their next of kin decided where they should be taken.

Most of the wreckage of the aircraft was brought to the surface and placed on the US Navy barge Cyclops for examination.

Graham Kennedy, Alice’s fiancé, died in 1994. By all reports “Uncle Pete”, as his family called him, was a quiet, humble, house painter. Alice credited him with teaching her to swim, thus saving her life. It is known that in August 1955, he flew to Cuba on Cubana Airlines to visit friends, and between 1958 and 1962, he visited America several times staying at Hamilton Terrace in an area known as the “Jewel of Harlem”. Eventually, he went to live full time in America, working as a house painter. He never married.

References:

The Royal Gazette (December 6,1952)

The Royal Gazette (December 8, 1952)

The Royal Gazette (August 1955)

The Carter House Museum

• Cecille Snaith-Simmons Cecille Snaith-Simmons is a retired nurse, historian, writer and author of The Bermuda Cookbook. With thanks to Shirley Blakeney, Elaine Bean, Shirley Pearman, Arthur Wellman, Elaine Fox and Ronnie Chameau for their recollections. Also to retired pilot Harold Millett, retired tug/tender Pilot Kenneth Todd and senior branch Pilot Wendell Burchall. And to Linda Abend and Lionel Simmons, who assisted with this research. Finally, to the Carter House Museum for photographs and Dianne Simmons, holder of the Simmons family photograph albums