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Remember...Charles Edward Cobb
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Charles Edward Cobb was born May 11, 1930, in Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia, to Brady Ray Cobb and Ada Virginia Surface Cobb. Brady and Ada had four other children: Dorothy Louise Cobb (b. 1926), Lloyd Raymond Cobb (b. 1927), and Norma Lee Cobb (b. c. 1928). Another daughter, Arlene, lived only from 1929 to 1935. (Family information from 1940 Federal Census and Davidson family tree on Ancestry.com.) The 1940 census, as well as an inferred residence of 1935, show the family to be living in South Charleston. An obituary, source unknown, states that Charles graduated from South Charleston High School with the class of 1948, where he was a member of the track team. The obituary also indicates he was a member of the First Methodist Church of South Charleston. The South Charleston High School Yearbook (1948) describes Charlie as having "beautiful curls" and being "silent but ready." His extracurriculars included Victory Corps, electronics and x-ray classes, and intramural and home room basketball.
| Research did not provide much information about Charlie's life between high school graduation and his death in 1951, so most of what is in this paragraph is conjecture, but the Davidson family tree shows Charlie to be living in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1950. Perhaps this was military related. But by 1951, he was in Montgomery, West Virginia. Since Montgomery was the home of the West Virginia Institute of Technology, perhaps he was attending college. A headstone application shows an enlistment date of May 14, 1949, presumably in the Air National Guard. There he was attached to the 167th Fighter Squadron, 123rd Fighter-Bomber Wing. Along with his comrades-in-arms, he would meet his tragic death in the C-47 crash of April 8, 1951, near the Charleston [Kanawha] Airport. |  |
Much has been written locally about the crash and its aftermath—the Charleston Gazette and Daily Mail offered timely coverage of the event and its aftermath, and other newspapers around the state followed suit. In a practice no longer familiar, newspapers often published an "extra," which allowed for frequent updates on breaking news. The following account, however, is excerpted from the actual accident report:
After reporting over the Charleston Radio Range at 5000 feet on an IFR flight from Godman Air Force Base, Kentucky to Charleston, West Virginia, the pilot was cleared by Charleston Approach Control to descent to 3500 feet, pending approach clearance. . . . [The pilot then indicated a turn procedure.] The procedure turn report was the last radio contact with the aircraft.The C-47 crashed into a hill approximately 1150 feet high located 4.6 miles from the approach end of runway 23 at Kanawha County Airport and 1.07 miles West Northwest of the Outer Marker beacon. Both wings of the aircraft were sheared off on impact by trees. The fuselage came to rest approximately 125 yards from the point of impact and was almost completely consumed by the fire which apparently was instantaneous with collision. . . .
One of the two survivors of the crash was a rated pilot riding as passenger who succumbed to burn injuries within less than 24 hours. The other survivor lived for approximately one week after the crash. The statements of the survivors indicate that they were positioned further aft in the plane than any of the other passengers and it is worthy of note that one of the survivors stated that to the best of his knowledge all the rest of the passengers who suffered fatal injuries had their safety belts fastened. . . .
[Here the report provides numerous technical details regarding the approach pattern and describes the condition of the aircraft on impact, concluding that the damage made the cause of the crash difficulty to determine.]
The report continues:
The fact that both survivors reported seeing the airport a short time before the crash lends credence to the belief that the pilot misread the altimeter and was actually flying at 1300 feet indicated when he reported being at 2300 outbound over the inner locator at 1132C. This altitude would put the aircraft below the 1000 foot overcast and above the 500 foot broken ceiling which would enable the passengers to get a glimpse of the airport through the broken cloud layer.The time lapse of only 2 minutes from the position over the inner located outbound until the procedure report further suggests the actions of this pilot in setting up his approach were distinctly hurried. One wrist watch found in the wreckage was stopped at 1136C, so the time of the accident is assumed as between 1135C and 1136.
While the failure of the ILS equipment might be considered as conducive to the accident, the pilot was aware of the malfunction and planned to make his approach independently of this system. It does not appear therefore that this failure should be considered as a direct cause factor. (Report of AF Aircraft Accident, West Virginia State Archives.)
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While most families held individual private services for their lost loved ones, the entire community rallied to their support when a joint service for all was held at the Charleston Municipal Auditorium on April 10. Local newspapers reported that more than 4,000 attended the joint memorial service, with standing room only for more than 500. |
The following day, the Cobb family held services at the First Methodist Church of South Charleston, and Charles was interred in Cunningham Memorial Park in St. Albans.
Article prepared by Patricia Richards McClure, who gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Syd Edwards, historian who has extensively written about the C-47 crash
June 2024
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
