Transport: Strangling Cloth

Queerest air tragedy of recent months was the crack-up of No. 1 Mexican Airman Francisco ("Pancho") Sarabia in Washington last June. One moment his stubby Gee Bee Special, the Q.E.D. was winging smoothly above the Potomac River; the next, downfluttering like a stricken hawk, it rammed its nose fast in the river bottom. By the time rescuers reached him, Sarabia was drowned. Shaken by the loss of their idol, Mexican mobs growled darkly of sabotage.

Last week Civil Aeronautics Authority's crash board issued a post-mortem (in advance of official reports): a rag in the air intake had choked off the Q.E.D.'s breath....

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