A photograph of the Leitzel family of Hebe, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, gathered around the wreckage of a small plane piloted by Glen Orvin Leitzel, who on his first solo flight after receiving his pilot’s license at the Gratz Airport, Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
The story as told by family members:
Among those who took flight instructions at the airport, was Gelen Orvin Leitzel of Hebe. On 19 April 1947, he finished his course, and was ready to take his first solo flight. Instructor Lyle Bressler left the plane, telling Glen that when he came back from his flight, he would receive his private pilot’s license.
Glen left the airport, and headed toward his hometown. For unknown reasons, he crashed beside his home in Hebe, the tail section of the plane resting on the roof of neighbor Fred Peifer‘s house. Glen was killed instantly on impact, at the age of twenty years, one month, one day old.
This accident was the first of three that occurred in 1947 that involved the Gratz Airport. Two of the crashes were fatal. The airport had only been established in 1946 and flight classes were offered to returning war veterans, including Leitzel, who used G.I. benefits to pay for them.
The individuals in the photograph are not identified other than that they are members of Leitzel’s family.
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