Hannay, Dwight C.

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Obituary

CONTINUE INQUIRY IN WESTERLO AIR CRASH; 3 KILLED

Federal aviation authorities and State Police continued their joint investigation this week into the cause of the airplane-helicopter collision and crash which took the lives of three Albany county men Sunday evening in Westerlo.

Killed were State Police BCI Investigator Leonard R. Garramone, 33, of Voorheesville, pilot of the plane; Dwight C. Hannay, 47, head of C. V. Hannay Manufacturing Co., Westerlo, who was at the controls of the copter, and Westerlo Justice of the Peace, William H. Furman, 35, who was a passenger in the Hannay craft.

Participating in the investigation are Fred Ryan, New York city, representing the Civil Aeronautics Board; Axel J. Nogard, Federal Aeronautics Authority, and Senior Investigator Charles O. Daucher of the State Police.

They said findings early this week indicated that Mr. Garramone was killed outright in the mid-air collision and that Mr. Hannay and Judge Furman died when the helicopter plummeted to earth and burned.

State Police said Monday the taking of aerial photographs from the helicopter was apparently responsible for the crash and the deaths of the men.

Mr. Furman, a camera enthusiast, took several pictures of Mr. Garramone and his newly-painted plane at Mr. Hannay's private airport. Then he boarded the copter and took sequence photos of the plane in flight, said the troopers.

Investigator Charles O. Daucher said both crafts were apparently flying in the same direction when they collided over the farm of Donald Jackson, less than a half mile from the airport.

Troopers said the wives of the three men, waiting at the airfield, looked on in horror as the helicopter and plane plummeted to the ground.

A spokesman of the Civil Aeronautics Board in Washington said it is believed the crash was the first plane-helicopter collision in aviation history.

Funeral services for Mr. Garramone were held at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in Stanco Funeral Albany, and at 9:30 a.m. at St. Matthews Church, Voorheesville. Burial was in Calvary cemetery.

Services for Mr. Furman were conducted at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Cunningham Funeral Home, Greenville. Burial was in Westerlo Rural Cemtery.

Mr. Hannay was buried in Westerlo Rural cemetery after services Thursday afternoon in Westerlo Baptist church.

Surviving Mr. Garramone are his wife and children, Eric, Christopher, and Timothy; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Dominick Garramone of Albany, and two sisters, Mrs. Richard Johnston of Altamont and Mrs. Ronald Blodgett of Colonie.

Mr. Furman's survivors include his wife, the former Nina M. Barkman; three daughters, Mrs. Chas. Lendrum and the Misses Cheryl and Margaret Furman; two sons, Leonard and Michael Furman; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Furman; a sister, Mrs. Charles A. McDermott, Knox, and one grandchild.

Mr. Hannay is survived by his wife, the former Doris E. Velie', a native of Greenville; a son, Robert D. Hannay, Westerlo; a daughter, Mrs. Carol F. Guilizon, who is in Alaska where her husband is on military duty; a brother, George Hannay of Westerlo, and two grandchildren.

Altamont Enterprise - May 7, 1965

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