Jungle Plane Crash

First Week of November, 1949

It was the first week of November, 1949.  Blanche Garlock Trotter watched the Stinson Voyager wobble down the runway cut out of the massive jungle.  The small single engine plane had a reputation for being a "landlubber".  With a sigh of relief, she saw it airborn before the runway ended.

Her husband, Missionary/Evangelist A. N. Trotter was on board with the pilot and a government diplomat.  The Trotters had converged at a mission station in Techien, Liberia, way back toward the border of French West Africa.  Blanche and A.N. had been ministering at different missions and met with their boys, Young Al and Tommy.  They were scheduled to fly to Cape Palmas to visit with some missionaries who would be returning to the States for furlough.  There was not a plane available that could carry all four of them, and they would have to get to Cape Palmas two at a time.

Seconds after the aircraft lifted, Blanche froze in disbelief, as she saw it take a nose-dive, slamming into the jungle at an air speed of 180 miles per hour.

With great difficulty Young Al and three natives hacked through jungle overgrowth, attempting to reach the wreckage.  Blanche's son became nauseous at the sight of his father.  His jaw was broken, his nose torn away from its place, now under his right eye.  He was bleeding from both eyes and ears as well as from his nasal cavity.  A. N. Trotter's Cristi-galli bone, which separated the two frontal lobes of his brain, was pulverized.

Young Al knew his father was bleeding to death and there was no way to stop the flow.  The situation could not have been any more desperate.  They were in the middle of the jungle with no road access--the only way out other than by plane was a 3-4 day walk.  Al knew his father would be dead in a matter of hours--perhaps sooner.

Dialing 911 was not an option.  There was no means of communication with the airport in Cape Palmas.  Even if there were, it was the rainy season and the Stinson had taken off during the only window of opportunity for flying that day.  There was no other plane, no ambulance, no hospital nearby, no doctor.  There was no hope!

The rest of the story is in "Generations" where you will read about Blanche Garlock, (daughter of Edward and Jessie Garlock), her husband A. N. Trotter, and this horrific experience.