Louisvillian ls Killed
In Jet Crash In Indiana
Lt. R. L. Hudson, Son of Ex-Labor Leader,
Dies as Plane Rolls Over, Falls 18,000 Feet
The Courier-Journal Louisville 31 Oct 1957, Page 1
A Kentucky Air National Guard Sabre Jet Crashed and burned near Vevay, Ind., last night, killing its 22-year-old Louisville pilot.
He was identified as Second Lt. Richard L. Hudson, son of a former Louisville labor leader.
The cause of the 7:55 p.m. crash was not immediately determined. The site is about 50 air miles northeast of Louisville, near the Ohio River.
Hudson, 5009 Cliffwood Road, was on a routine “round-robin” training flight that was to have taken him to Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and back to Louisville.
Falls Near Farmhouse
First Lt. Sam Blythe, who was flying as Hudson’s wingman in a similar F-86-A, said he saw Hudson’s plane roll over and then drop into the clouds at about 18,000 feet.
The craft plummeted to earth within 20 yards of a farmhouse about 2½ miles north of Vevay and buried itself 20 feet in the ground.
It demolished a concrete-block milkhouse on impact. Pieces of metal were hurled against the farm home of Mr. and Mrs. Blanton Darbro.
The burned metal of the plane was still white hot some 3 hours after the crash.
Flying ‘Sort of Weaving’
Hudson and Blythe took off from the Standiford Field at 7:33 p.m. Blythe said they climbed to 22,000 feet within 10 minutes and had been off the ground 22 minutes when the crash occurred.
Blythe, 26, of 6837 Green Meadow Circle, said he lost radio contact with Hudson shortly after take-off.
“I noticed he was flying loose,” Blythe said, “sort of weaving all over the sky.”
Blythe said he tried to contact Hudson by radio, but was unsuccessful.
Sees Flash on Clouds
“I saw a red light in Hudson’s cockpit,” Blythe said. “Then he rolled over and dropped through the clouds. I went after him. But I lost him in the clouds.
“I was down to about 1,000 feet before I realized it, and I pulled out.
“Just then,” Blythe continued, “I saw a large flash on the clouds. I didn't see the plane hit, but I knew it hit.”
Blythe said he did not know what the red light in the cockpit was. He returned to Standiford and landed.
Hudson, a student at the University of Louisville, was married in June to the former Miss Marilyn Perkins. His father, H. H. Hudson, formerly was business manager of Electrical Workers Local 369.
Col. Verne Yahne, base detachment commander for the 123d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Standiford, said Hudson was “an excellent pilot, one of the best young pilots we’ve had.”
Hudson joined the Air National Guard unit as a pilot three months ago after having been graduated from an Air Force flight-training school.
Yahne said Hudson had accumulated more than 200 hours’ flying time in jet aircraft. On active duty yesterday, he stood runway alert until 6 p.m. and then took the jet up for night training flight.
Civil Air Patrol members identified Hudson’s body by a billfold found in the wreckage.
Crash Kills Louisville Jet Pilot
Just Misses Indiana Home
The Louisville Times 31 October 1957
Second Lt. Richard L. Hudson of Louisville crashed to his death near Vevay, Ind., last night in a Kentucky Air National Guard F-86-A Sabre Jet.
Hudson’s plane, flying at 18,000 feet, plummeted to within 20 yards of a farmhouse and struck the ground so hard it buried itself 20 feet in the earth. The cause of the crash was not determined.
Hudson, 22, of 5009 Cliffwood Road, had been on a routine “round robin” flight from Standiford Field to Cincinnati to Indianapolis and back to Louisville.
His wingman, First Lt. Sam Blythe, 26, of 6837 Green Meadow Circle, described the accident like this:
“I noticed he was flying loose – sort of weaving all over the sky.”
Blythe tried to contact Hudson by radio, but was unsuccessful.
Then “I saw a red light in Hudson’s cockpit. He rolled over and dropped through the clouds. I went after him, but lost him in the clouds.
“I was down to about 1,000 feet before I realized it and pulled out.
“Just then I saw a large flash on the clouds. I didn't see the plane hit, but I knew it hit.”
Companion Returns
Blythe then returned to Standiford Field.
The crash demolished a concrete block milk house on impact. Pieces of metal were hurled against the farm home of Mr. and Mrs. Blanton Darbro.
The burned metal of the plane was still white hot some three hours after the crash.
Hudson, a student at the University of Louisville, was married in June to the former Miss Marilyn Perkins Boehl. His father H. H. Hudson, 5009 Cliffwood Road, formerly was business manager of Electrical Workers Local 369.
Col. Verne Yahne, base detachment commander for the 123rd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Standiford said Hudson was “an excellent pilot, one of the best young pilots we’ve had.”
Hudson joined the Air National Guard unit as a pilot three months ago after graduating from an Air Force flight training school.
Surviving besides his parents are wife and two brothers, Robert C. and Herbert W. Hudson, two nieces and two nephews.
The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday from Pearson’s 149 Breckinridge Lane. Burial will be in Cave Hill Cemetery.
Second Lieutenant Richard Lloyd Hudson, 22, of Louisville, Jefferson County, perished on 30 October 1957 six miles northeast of Vevay, Indiana when the Kentucky Air National Guard F-86A Sabre Jet he was piloting crashed at 7:55 p.m. during a routine Air Defense Command scramble. Hudson was a member of the 165th Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the Kentucky Air National Guard and was serving on federal active duty performing a Runway Alert flight at the time of the crash. 
