Hero

Flying the mail out of St. Paul one night four years ago, Pilot Mal Bryan Freeburg of Northwest Airlines spied a flaming railroad trestle, flagged a crack passenger express to a stop with his emergency landing flares, saved many a life including that of Golfer Robert Tyre ("Bobby") Jones Jr. For that feat he received a gold watch from the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R. R., $100 from the Chicago Daily News.

Two years later Pilot Freeburg was flying eight passengers to Chicago in a trimotored Ford when an outboard propeller broke. Vibration shook a motor loose, lodged it in a wing strut, damaged the landing gear. Pilot Freeburg swung his ship out over the Mississippi River, banked steeply, shook the engine loose, dropped it into the water where its 500 lb. could harm no one. Then, on two motors, he flew 25 mi. to an emergency field, landed his passengers safely. For that he received from President Roosevelt the Post Office Department's first Air Mail Flyer's Medal of Honor.

Last week Hero Freeburg, now 28, again made national news. Flying his nightly Chicago run, he took off from St. Paul with five passengers, headed for Minneapolis, ten miles away. Circling to land, he heard a small siren wail in the cockpit, saw a tiny light flash on the control board, knew at once what every transport pilot dreads: his retractable landing-gear was jammed. Back he headed for St. Paul, hoping the plane's vibration would shake the wheels down. They refused to budge. For nearly two hours he circled helplessly over St. Paul while Co-Pilot John Woodhead reassured passengers with tales of previous Freeburg exploits. Finally he dumped his fuel, prepared to land without wheels.

At the airport, ambulances and fire engines were waiting. Police, firemen, physicians stood by. Thrill-seekers by the thousand held their breath. Down into the glare of the floodlights swooped the ship, hit the earth with a thud, skidded 700 ft. on her belly in a shower of dust and sparks, ground to a stop amid cheers and applause. Damaged propellers would cost Northwest Airlines $50 to repair, but unbroken was the company's proud record of eight years without a single passenger fatality.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.