Intrepids Justice: One Womans Injustice Excerpt
During the early morning hours of November 4, 1948 Neptune P2V2 (call sign 2 Mike 38) named the Intrepid by its crew was preparing for a training mission out of Ault Field Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island, Washington. The crew consisted of nine men ages 22 to 31. There were three officers and six enlisted men with Lieutenant Commander Wilbur Titsworth pilot and Lieutenant Commander Albert Hall in the co-pilots chair. Other crewmembers were Lieutenant Junior Grade Edward Swentek, and enlisted men Taz V. Rudd, John F. Duval, George L. Cole, George E. Edgeter, James J. Lytle and John H. Wood.
These nine men: all sons, husbands, fathers, and brothers, had proven to be so very important to their country and their loved ones. They were all experienced navy men, and had recently returned from a four-month deployment in Adak, Alaska followed by military leave with their families. I can imagine they were overflowing with stories about their wives and children with an occasional story or two about combat experiences they had during the second world war which had ended just three years before but you can bet they took todays flight very seriously even though it was only a training mission.
There was, however, nagging and growing cause for concern between Intrepid crew members. The plane had been RED TAGGED on the flight status board due to an inspection revealing the heater/defroster on the port wing was found by inspectors to be inoperable. A discrepancy report had been turned in just before noon the previous day and the pilot, LCDR Titsworth was aware of this report and the importance of it. The crew knew he had given a direct order NOT to make the necessary repairs and had emphatically stated: I know all about it and well get it fixed on the next check! Repairs to the heater would have required the plane to be out of commission and this flight would have had to be scrubbed. One thing is clear; Titsworth had the authority and the desire to fly that day even though that faulty decision tragically sealed his fate and that of his crew.
Early the morning of the flight one of the crewmembers had been overheard commenting, complaining even, that he did not want to go on this particular hop because of faulty equipment. His complaint was considered just a bitch by other crew in the duty officers shack and nothing more was ever said about it. That enlisted man subsequently elected to go on the mission as assigned. In the later investigation, no one could identify the crewmember and no one will ever know who it was. I sometimes wonder if it was Taz Rudd who made his feeling known that day, but who later dismissed it and reaffirmed his trust in his superior officer.
One can only imagine why Titsworth would take such a cavalier attitude about this matter. When asked what he would do if he encountered icing conditions, his flip reply was I will fly with the port wing out of the ice! This cockiness resulted in their being nine empty chairs at family tables and heartbreak in those families for years and years to come.
The decision was made that all nine Neptune aircraft were up and ready for the training mission and the squadron left Ault Field at three thirty A.M. on Nov. 4, 1948. The mission was to simulate an attack on an aircraft carrier task force operating 300 miles off Cape Flattery. The attack was to have been at 5:30A.M, but heavy rain and fog would necessitate the planes change course and climb to avoid this inclement weather. Commander Heizer back at the base gave instruction for the squadron to change course to 105 degrees magnetic and climb.
The Intrepid changed course and began its climb. I know the tension in the plane must have been heavy as the men were very much aware of the life-threatening situation they were encountering in such a storm. At a time like that, my husband, Bud Rudd would surely have been cracking jokes and trying to make his buddies laugh. It was his nature to use humor to relieve tension in serious situations. I can imagine that when they werent chuckling at Buds jokes, they were praying, maybe even swearing as they continued to perform their duties.
In the cockpit, there would be little humor. LCDRs Titsworth and Hall were becoming dead serious as the notice went out Ice developing on left wingde-icer not operablewe are not able to make necessary altitude to clear storm! At 6:10A.M. on Nov. 4, 1948, those were the last words and the last contact the base station would ever have with the Intrepid. Ironically, all the other planes in the squadron would be able to climb out to 13,000 to 16,000 feet in those same icing conditions without using their de-icers.
It is assumed that Titsworth believed the Intrepid was over water or at least parallel to the coastline. He descended to an altitude of just over 3,000 feet planning on ditching in the ocean, but in reality they were 15 to 18 miles inland in a horseshoe-shaped canyon from which there would be no escape. Visibility was obscured by the storm and fog and the crew had no way of knowing that mountain peaks in the extinct volcano in which they were flying towered over 6,000 feet on all sides. The rate of climb required to clear those peaks would not have been possible under the wing icing conditions. At that time, there would have been no point in trying to bail out and no evidence was ever found that an attempt was made to ditch the plane.
The Intrepid hit the wall of the canyon head on and at such a high speed it would be logical to assume that all on board were instantly killed as the aircraft disintegrated.
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