by Dave Blodgett

Shortly before noon on Sunday, January 22, 1967, two A-4B Skyhawk attack bombers collided as they came in for a landing at the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro and crashed into an eight-unit building in Leisure World killing four residents and one of the pilots.

Reporting the tragic episode in its weekly edition of January 26, the Leisure World News devoted three pages to describe the fatal accident. More than half its front page was dedicated to a dramatic photo of fire department and military rescue crews digging frantically through the smoldering wreckage of 272-A and 272-B Avenida Sevilla.

Killed in the fiery crash were Leon Lauderbach, 76, of 272-A Avenida Sevilla; Harold Berman, 62, and his wife Margaret, 52, of 272-B; Horatio Kenyon, 87, of 291-D Avenida Carmel and one of the pilots, Captain James Powell. Mrs. Anita Brown, 69, of 281-P Avenida Carmel, was taken to South Coast Hospital in critical condition from penetrating wounds of the abdomen and other major cuts. She underwent two surgical procedures. Mr. Gladys Lauderbach, Leon’s wife, was in fair condition at South Coast and had surgery for facial burns to her back and hands.

Two neighbors, Williard Van Dyke of 286-C Carmel, and Henry Hefele of 287-B Carmel ran to the scene, found Mrs. Brown in the kitchen barely conscious. They tore a door from its frame as a makeshift stretcher and removed her from the building.

"The flames were close, but we didn’t think of the flames at the time," Van Dyke said. "We knew we had to get her out immediately."

Although his wife screamed at him to "stay back," Jack Taylor of 271-D Sevilla rushed into the burning 272-A, reached Mrs. Lauderbach and started to pull her out. Captain Charles Donaldson, a Marine who had just arrived at the scene, saw Taylor and helped him bring Mr. Lauderbach to safety. Both men tried to re-enter the building to rescue Leon, but flames forced them to retreat. Lauderbach perished in the fire. As a result of his rescue efforts, Taylor suffered severe burns to his hands and had to be hospitalized.

Funeral services for the Bermans were held on January 26. Mr. Berman, an investment counselor, was survived by two daughters, Mrs. Thomas Corbin of La Habra and Mrs. Robert Coleman of Oak Park, Michigan; a son, Julian Berman of Northridge; two brothers and two sisters, Maurice and Robert Berman and Faye Jorgensen and Ann Hayward, all of San Jose, and seven grandchildren.

Mrs. Berman was office manager and secretary to the principal of Santiago High School, Garden Grove. She was survived by one daughter, Mrs. Thomas Corbin of La Habra; her parents, Mr. And Mrs. E. C. Grimm of Madison, South Dakota and two grandchildren.

Mr. Kenyon was survived by his wife Mrs. Norma Kenyon of Laguna Hills; a brother; S. Newton Kenyon of Laguna Beach; a nephew, Roger Kenyon of Santa Ana and two nieces, Mrs. Robert Gilliland of Long Meadow, Massachusetts and Mrs. William F. Schuck of Clinton, New York.

Mr. Lauderbach’s memorial service was held at the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Ana where he had been an elder and superintendent of the Sunday school. Lauderbach was an early member of Toastmasters International, was on the board of the YMCA and belonged to the Leisure World Kiwanis Club. He was a retired school superintendent.

Another hero of the disaster was Leisure World bus driver Gary Paul White, 28, who saw Captain Powell, pilot of one of the aircraft, lying at the base of building 271.

"He seemed to pass out, so I listened for a heart beat and gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and a little bit of heart massage. He seemed to revive, so I ran to my car to get my jacket, which I brought back to keep him warm until the Marine helicopter arrived. Powell died at the Camp Pendleton medical facility.

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Manning of 272-C Sevilla were sitting in their living room with guests Mr. and Mrs. R. T. Riter when the jet bombers exploded into the apartment on the southwest side of their eight-unit building. The four of them knocked out a large plate glass window and leaped to safety over a block retaining wall.

As a constant reminder of this tragic event, a part of one of the bomber’s engines remains buried in the ground at 272 Avenida Sevilla.

When they collided, the two aircraft were only 750 feet east of the 3,000-foot flight corridor on their final approach to El Toro. Although visibility was hampered by rain, the accident occurred in daylight shortly before noon on a peaceful Sunday in Leisure World.

This tragic event is etched into the memories of 18,000 Leisure World residents and strongly motivates them to oppose the construction of a huge commercial airport at El Toro, knowing that 96% of all landings are scheduled to come in directly over our heads under 1,000 feet—a terrifying prospect.

7/24/01