50th anniversary of Johnstown's deadliest plane crash marked; 1974 disaster killed 12 passengers, pilot
Jan. 6—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — It has been 50 years since Johnstown's most deadly plane crash.
On Jan. 6, 1974, Air East's Commonwealth Commuter Flight 317 was making its approach to what was then Johnstown-Cambria County Airport when the plane crashed into an embankment along Airport Road between the runway and U.S. Route 219.
There were 17 people on board — 15 passengers, a pilot and a copilot. Eleven passengers and the pilot died on impact, and one passenger died at Conemaugh Memorial Hospital 10 days later.
Fatalities included Joan Mayer, 42, of Johnstown; her son W.J. Richard Mayer, 10; and a relative, Susan Imhoff, 13, of Johnstown. Joan Mayer was the wife of the longtime publisher of The Tribune-Democrat, Richard Mayer.
Others killed were Paul Freidhoff, 19, of Frankstown Road, a Penn State Altoona student; Esther Kirschman, 85, of Johnstown; Jane Shikes, 23, of New York City, who was traveling to visit her parents in Cherry Tree; pilot Dan Brannon, about 40, of Gallitzin; James Creighton, 29, an Air East pilot hitching a ride home to Johnstown; Pitt-Johnstown student Christopher Harrington, 18, of Philadelphia; Joachim Berliner, about 60, of New York City; Lynn Stamp, about 38, of Ebensburg; and Pitt-Johnstown student Carol Brown, 18, of Lansdowne, Delaware County, who died 10 days after the crash.
Critically injured were Cindy Imhoff, 13, the twin sister of Susan Imhoff; copilot Gerald Knouff, 24, of Johnstown; and Dr. Abraham Edelstein, 64, of Westmont.
Four 19-year-olds on their way home from an evening of bowling at the former Richland Bowl were the first to discover the crashed plane that night, according to reports.
Jack Wainwright and Ron McCleester, both of East Taylor Township, along with Nicholas Maydak, of Conemaugh Township, and David Hamula, of East Conemaugh, were driving along Airport Road when McCleester turned his head and saw the wreckage, The Tribune-Democrat reported.
They stopped the car, and Maydak scrambled up the embankment to the wreckage and heard what turned out to be Knouff calling for help.
Even as he saw more passengers and called his friends to help, his own emotions were kicking in.
"I thought I had a dream," he told the newspaper reporter. "I tried to scream but nothing came out."
While three of the young men did their best to help survivors, Hamula ran along the runway toward the terminal. He encountered an Air East employee, who went with him back toward the crash scene to confirm Hamula's information, then ran to the terminal and called police.
The three helping the survivors took off their coats and covered victims against the cold January night.
The crash led to the end of Air East, the operator of Commonwealth Commuter flights under the Allegheny Airlines banner.
On March 7, 1974, the Federal Aviation Administration revoked Air East's operator's certificate and ordered the airline to immediately halt all operations, and Air East was charged with using unqualified pilots and mechanically unsafe aircraft.
An FAA spokesman at the time said the shutdown order stemmed from an investigation into Air East's operations and records following the crash.
The shutdown order stated in part: "By reason of numerous violations, unsafe practices, policies and coercing tactics ... Air East Inc. has demonstrated that it does not possess the judgment, responsibility or compliance disposition required of a holder of an air taxi commercial operators certificate."
