{"id":9048,"date":"2025-06-15T18:24:22","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T22:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/?p=9048"},"modified":"2026-04-01T10:54:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T14:54:58","slug":"hertford-jet-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/hertford-jet-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Navy Jet Crash in Hertford – February 21, 1957"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a blog version of a Facebook posting<\/a> on June 15, 2025.<\/p>\n

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Looking back at the close call of all close calls, when a Navy jet fighter crashed within 200 yards of Perquimans County High School in Hertford, NC, on the morning of February 21, 1957. Two people were killed and a third person was injured. <\/p>\n

Retrospective is below. Read a few newspaper clippings in this Google Drive folder<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Crippled Plane Plunged<\/strong><\/p>\n

Located on Highway 17 just south of downtown Hertford, the high school had an enrollment of 500 students. And just minutes after the crash, hundreds of students would have been on the baseball field for P.E. And just before the crash, 115 eight graders had been out on the field. <\/p>\n

The McDonnell F3H-2 Demon jet fighter was based at the naval air station in Oceana, VA. Witnesses reported that the plane was heading directly for the school buildings on a relatively flat glide angle. It was also on fire. Early impressions were that the pilot was still in the cockpit, but officials later said that trim-tab settings may have caused the \u201cflat glide\u201d instead of a \u201csharp plunge.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the \u201ccrippled plane plunged toward the school area,\u201d reported the next day\u2019s Virginia Pilot, it sheared off the tops of small trees about 300 yards from the school\u2019s garage building. It then struck a corn field, then struck a shallow hole, then bounced into the air, and finally crashed into the corner of the garage building.<\/p>\n

Dead and Injured<\/strong><\/p>\n

Inside was chief county school mechanic J. Van Roach, 55, and his assistant Preston Morgan, 26. Roach stumbled out of the building, his clothes burning. Caretaker Raleigh Perry, from the cemetery next door, threw dirt onto Roach to extinguish the burning clothes. Morgan was blown out of the building and over the fence at the baseball field. Both suffered serious burns, and Roach died of his injuries at 7:55 p.m. that night. Morgan was reported in critical condition, with burns over 35 percent of his body.<\/p>\n

The pilot was Ensign William W. Bell and his body was found the following night about five miles from the crash site, on the farm of Lee Winslow near New Hope, NC. His parachute had not opened.<\/p>\n

The plane was attached to Fighter Squadron 82 at Oceana. It had left at 10:05 a.m. on a \u201croutine training mission.\u201d There had been no distress calls from the aircraft. Noted a retrospective in the Daily Advance on January 7, 2023, it had been making a run at targets at Naval Auxiliary Air Station Harvey Point. <\/p>\n

Inside the School<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both students and faculty inside the school saw the crash. Said Science teacher Mrs. Joseph Nowell, \u201cI saw the [plane\u2019s jet engine] flying toward us and yelled \u2018run, run\u2019.\u201d While eighth-grader Guy McCracken also saw the plane\u2019s impact and told everyone \u201cto hit the floor and that\u2019s just what I did.\u201d He recalled later \u201csomebody [then] jumped on top of me and then we all scrambled out of the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his office on the opposite side of the building, Principal E. C. Woodard \u201cfelt a tremendous thud and the building shaking.\u201d Leaving his office, he saw students coming down from the second floor, and returned to his office to signal the fire drill alarm. Said another teacher, \u201cthe school emptied in less than a minute.\u201d Agreed Mrs. Nowell, \u201cfor the first time in a fire drill there was no confusion on the stairs. The kids came out fast and orderly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emergency Response<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first crash report was called into the Coast Guard station at Elizabeth City at 10:58 a.m. Both the Navy and Marine Corps were immediately alerted.<\/p>\n

Firefighters from Hertford and Edenton (14 miles) responded. Recounted that day\u2019s Perquimans Weekly, they \u201cdoused the area with water\u201d but were instructed \u201cnot to spray water on the plane because it cause [the fire] to flare up.\u201d <\/p>\n

From news photos, at least one military fire truck responded, either from the Elizabeth City Coast Guard station (20 miles) or the Weeksville Naval Air Station (25 miles). The latter closed as an active facility later that year.<\/p>\n

With early reports stating that the school had also been struck, recounted the Daily Advance retrospective, a radio station \u201cput out a call for all available funeral home ambulances.\u201d <\/p>\n

From those early reports, the Red Cross Blood Center in Norfolk also \u201cdispatched six units of serum albumin\u201d and \u201csix units of whole blood\u201d to Chowan County Hospital in Edenton. The blood supplies were escorted by Norfolk police. <\/p>\n

At the same time, \u201cdroves of worried parents in vehicles clogged the roadways trying to check the status of their children,\u201d noted the Daily Advance retrospective. <\/p>\n

Within an hour of the crash, Navy and Marine Corps helicopters had arrived and brought military officials to the scene. Navy blimps [!] later lifted off, to search for the pilot. Both an aerial and ground search was conducted. <\/p>\n

Added the Perquimans Weekly, \u201ccommunity volunteers provided coffee and doughnuts for the emergency workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Damage Report<\/strong><\/p>\n

The school garage was destroyed, a 125 by 180-foot corrugated steel structure, along with its contents that included six school buses and a half-dozen \u201cother pieces of rolling equipment.\u201d (One activity bus, one gas truck, one pick-up truck, and one \u201ctractor lawnmower\u201d noted the next day\u2019s News and Observer.) <\/p>\n

Adding to the explosion of the plane\u2019s impact were oxygen and acetylene tanks in the building as well as a small quantity of gasoline. <\/p>\n

Two \u201cprivate automobiles\u201d parked outside were also demolished. And, as the Perquimans Weekly added, \u201cthe area around the bus garage was littered with plane parts and sections of flaming grass.\u201d<\/p>\n

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