Two Navy fliers lost their lives off Cape Pogue soon after 10 o’clock Tuesday morning when their dive bomber, in which they were making practice dives at a target, failed to come out of a dive and plunged into the sea. They were from Quonset Naval Air Station.

 

Ens. Cecil M. Richards, USNR, was pilot of the plane, and with him was William Robert Garrett, aviation radioman second class, also USNR. Ensign Richards is survived by his mother, Mrs. C. M. Richards of Galesburg, Ill., and the next of kin of the crewman is his father, Edward Garrett, of Woodland, Cal.

 

Although the crash boat from Vineyard Haven was sent to the scene at once, and air-sea rescue operations were put into motion, the bodies had not been recovered up to this morning. Attempts to secure and bring up the plane with grappling equipment are still being made, but the high winds, bitter cold, and heavy seas have made operations difficult.

 

The tragedy was witnessed by other fliers taking part in the same training exercises. This is the first fatality around the Vineyard since the ending of the war.