30 SEP 1956 — 3 FLYERS DIE IN CRASH. — a twin-engine Navy anti-submarine plane from VS 772 crashed into a sugar beet field shortly after taking off from the NAS Los Alamitos at 10:30am Saturday. The three men in its crew were killed instantly. The plane was a Grumman S2F Sentinel radio training mission.
Killed in the crash were Commander Frederick E. Kroeger, USNR, Pacoima; Lt. William T. Kirk, USNR, Van Nuys; and Lieutenant (junior grade) Dennis S. Weibel, USNR, of San Diego.
Commander Kroeger is survived by his widow, Anna Mae Kroeger, a daughter, Stephanie Ann, age 8, and his mother, Anna Edna Kroeger. He lived with his wife and daughter in Pacoima, Has mother lives in Wells, Minn. Cdr. Kroeger was a Los Angeles school teacher in civilian life.
Lieutenant Kirk is survived by his widow, Barbara Kirk, and their two-year old son, Dean, of Van Nuys, and his mother, Helen L. Kirk, of Oakland, Calif. He was a salesman for Goodyear products as a civilian.
Lt. Weibel was single and was a civil engineer for the city of San Diego. His father, mother and sister live in Minneapolis, Minn.
The accident occurred in the middle of a newly laid out housing project at the end of the station’s runway. The plane crashed and burned within 200 yards of a group of model homes. The tract will consist of some 2,400 homes when it is completed.
“We’re extremely thankful that the tract has not been completed and that there were no injuries to civilians,” stated Lieutenant Commander Bob Murphy, USNR, the station’s command liaison officer.