By Anonymous | AuxBeacon News Contributor

[Editor’s Note: We received an anonymous tip regarding this crash. Thank you for your contribution. This plane crash in Oregon was attributed to pilot error.]

Local Man, Youth Die in Plane Crash

Federal Aviation Administration officials continued their investigation today into the mid-air collision that claimed the lives of two Vancouver residents and one other person Sunday during an antique air show at Scappoose, Oregon.

Investigators on the scene were sifting through the wreckage of two early-model planes this morning, but reports from the FAA team were scanty.

The local victims of the crash were Arthur K. Underwood, 47, of 6207 McKinley Drive, and James Gillie Oppel, 14, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Rollin Oppel of 5505 N.E. Drexel Ave.

A third person, Maynard Parsons, 46, of Bellevue, was also killed in the accident.

Preliminary reports from witnesses Sunday indicated the crash occurred while several antique planes were flying an oval formation at an altitude of about 500 feet.

Apparently one of the planes flew into the underside of the other, witnesses said.

An estimated 5,000 persons had gathered at the Scappoose Airport for the show. Most did not see the collision.

Underwood, flying out of the Evergreen Air Park, was piloting a restored Meyers bi-plane.

He had served with the 101st Airborne Division during World War II, and had some 25 years flying experience.

Oppel, a passenger in Underwood’s plane, was a member of the Vancouver Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol.

He was one of 25 cadets flown from Vancouver by the Northwest Antique Airplane club as a reciprocation for the cadets assistance during the Evergreen Air Show last summer.

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