1971 — Apr 6, Car with US Coast Guardsmen, goes into Curtis Creek ~Glen Burnie, MD–6

–6 Evening Capital, Annapolis, MD. “6 die as auto dives into Curtis Creek.” 4-6-1971, p. 1.
–6 Evening Capital, Annapolis, MD. “Crash among worst ever in state.” 4-25-1979, p. 10.

Narrative Information

April 6: “Six U.S. Coast Guardsmen were killed today when the car they were riding in cut through a guard rail on the approach to the Curtis Creek Bridge and plunged into 15 feet of water. The identities of the dead were withheld by Coast Guard officials pending the notification of the next of kin. Five of the men were from the Boston area. The driver of the car was from Pennsylvania. All the dead were assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Chase which is undergoing repairs at Curtis Bay Coast Guard Station.

“State police at the Glen Burnie barracks said that the car was southbound at an ‘extremely high rate of speed’ when it left Pennington Ave. 50 feet from the bridge knocking out 30 feet of wooden guard rail. The car was airborne 350 feet over land and water, state police said, before it landed in Curtis Creek. It was heavily damaged.

“The accident occurred about 2 a.m., and was reported to the State Police at the Glen Burnie barracks by a woman who said that the car passed her going very fast and then went out of control. The accident began in Baltimore City but the car ended up in Anne Arundel County waters, officers at the scene said.

“Search operations were conducted by 30 city, state, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County and Coast Guard officers and rescue personnel, State Police said. By 8:30 a.m. all of the bodies had been recovered.

“The car, a 1967 sport model was dragged from the water about 4:30 a.m. Attendants at a station said there was nothing left of the car except a ‘big ball of metal.’….

“Cpl. Raymond Bateman, state police, said that the car passed between two uprights supporting a large billboard just off the approach to the bridge. It then cut through a small tree, still airborne, and traveled 260 feet from the water’s edge to the place from where it was recovered. It is 150 feet from the roadway to the edge of the creek, he said….” (Evening Capital, Annapolis, MD. “6 die as auto dives into Curtis Creek.” 4-6-1971, p. 1.)

1979, Evening Capital: “….In the county [Anne Arundel], six U.S. Coast Guardsmen lost their lives on April 6, 1971, when a car in which they were riding plunged into Curtis Creek near Glen Burnie. Before Monday’s crash, that was believed to have been the worst single-vehicle accident in the county.” (Evening Capital (Fran Krzywicki), Annapolis, MD. “Crash among worst ever in state.” 4-25-1979, p. 10.)

Sources

Evening Capital, Annapolis, MD. “6 die as auto dives into Curtis Creek.” 4-6-1971, p. 1. Accessed 3-2-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/annapolis-capital-apr-06-1971-p-1/

Evening Capital (Fran Krzywicki), Annapolis, MD. “Crash among worst ever in state.” 4-25-1979, p. 10. Accessed 7-23-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/annapolis-capital-apr-25-1979-p-10/?tag