1941 crash of the Flagship Erie recalled in a riveting new play

Report by Gord McNulty
CAHS Vice President
posted July 2023
Lawrence Station Poster
Lawrence Station: The Crash of American Airlines Flagship Erie, is a play about the life stories that were instantly altered by the Flagship Erie’s final flight.
Historic news clippings are shown in the centrespread of a brochure about the play. Ross Burgar noted that Viola Howe kept a scrapbook that was an invaluable resource. (courtesy of Cindy Schweyer)
The historic premiere of a new play, “Lawrence Station, the crash of American Airlines Flagship Erie,” provided a rewarding experience for everyone who attended the fine stage presentation this year.
 
My wife Angie and I were fortunate to see the production at Strathroy, Ontario – one of three locations where the play was staged in April.  Full credit is especially due to playwright Len Cuthbert, who was inspired to take the tragic story to the stage in 2020 while he was riding a bicycle through the tiny hamlet of Lawrence Station southwest of St. Thomas, ON.
 
Len has an aircraft maintenance and part-time pilot background. He noticed the commemorative plaque dedicated to 17 passengers and three crew who perished on 30 October 1941, in the crash of an American Airlines DC-3 on a routine flight from Buffalo to Detroit. 
 
The long overdue plaque was unveiled in September 2018. A large gathering of residents attended, as well as 26 Americans who lost family members in the crash, including three of the 34 children who lost their fathers.  A full report on the unveiling can be found in the September 2018 issue of the CAHS National e-Newsletter.
 
The play is based on the book, Final Descent: The Loss of the Flagship Erie, by Rob Schweyer, a keen aviation historian before his untimely death from Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2010.  Cindy Schweyer, Rob’s widow, shares Rob’s interest in aviation history, and I was really grateful when Cindy phoned to alert me to the play.
 
A lot of heartache is involved in the story. The airliner, on the third leg of a New York to Chicago run, was seen flying erratically before it plunged into a farm field at a steep angle.  It was the worst aviation disaster in Canada at the time and American Airlines’ first fatal accident involving the seemingly invincible DC-3.  The cause could not be established in the pre-black box era as virtually all physical evidence of what might have happened aboard the aircraft was destroyed by the impact and fire.  
 
Much like the commemorative plaque, the play is a tribute to the lives lost and the many area residents who were first responders and desperately tried to assist. As Ross Burgar, Chair of the Southwold Township History Committee put it, the play “highlights people overwhelmed by dreadful circumstances as well as those who stepped up to offer comfort and support.”
 
Len’s creatively written but very factual script featured three talented actors.  They played multiple roles such as American Airlines Flagship Erie stewardess Mary Blackley; switchboard operator Edna Lumley; residents who rushed to the scene of the crash and alerted friends and neighbours; radio range station operators along the route of the flight; radio station DJs in Buffalo and South Bend, Indiana; and more.
Eve Cohen played the role of Lawrence Station resident Viola Howe among others.   Viola watched as the stricken DC-3 plunged into a field close to the Howe farm.   She spread the news by ringing up a switchboard operator in Iona, five miles away.   The operator immediately alerted the Ontario Provincial Police and No. 4 Bombing and Gunnery School at RCAF Station Fingal. (© Tony Paul)
Sarah Hagerty, left, and Eve Cohen, right, captured the sorrow and shock that spread throughout the quiet rural community as it became apparent that no one had survived the devastating crash. (© Tony Paul)
The three actors were Eve Cohen, a newcomer to Canada who studied theatre at the Beverly Hills Playhouse in Los Angeles; Sarah Hagarty, a graduate of the University of Windsor’s Bachelor of Fine Arts Acting program; and Kydra Ryan, the Associate Producer and ensemble member of AlvegoRoot Theatre in London, ON.
Kydra Ryan's various roles in the play included a radio DJ in Detroit.   News of the Ontario tragedy came hot on the heels of word that a Northwest Airlines DC-3 had crashed and burned at Moorehead, Minnesota, earlier the same day while landing at the Fargo Airport in North Dakota.  Ice had forced the aircraft down. The pilot managed to crawl clear of the burning aircraft, but 12 passengers, the co-pilot and the stewardess, perished. A total of 34 lives were lost in the two accidents that day.  (© Tony Paul)
The play - also shown in Shedden, ON and in London, ON - held the attention of the audience for the entire 90-minute performance without an intermission.  The quality of the performance reflected Len’s considerable experience as the founding director of Fridge Door Live Theatre Company.  His plays have been staged in Canada, the USA, and Europe.
 
Len is trying to interest other theatres and community playhouses in Ontario to stage the dramatization.  We can only hope he’ll be successful as this important play definitely deserves large audiences.
 
Adam Corrigan Holowitz, the director, said it was “an honour to direct this play which is a living memorial to the good people who were lost that night and the good people who carried on.”
 
The CAHS extends congratulations to everyone involved, including many generous sponsors, in bringing the story of the Flagship Erie’s final flight to life in such an impressive way. In particular, we thank photographer Tony Paul for pictures that capture the emotions portrayed by the excellent cast, and Ross Burgar, who contacted Tony about providing a selection of photos for this story.
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