A search party, guided by circling airplanes and circling vultures, pushed it way into the dense and desolate Wateree Swamp today hunting for an airplane reported to have crashed southeast of Blaney.

The search began Thursday when hunters in the Blaney area reported seeing a plan “engulfed in flames” plunging earthward. Bad weather since that time had hindered airborne searchers, but yesterday Capt. Albert G. Davis Jr., of the Ft. Jackson Aviation Section, spotted a spiral of vultures over the swamp four miles due east of the little hamlet of McCaskill.

Today, a ground party, guided by airplanes, set out for the spot. Eight Civil Air Patrol members, eight National Guardsmen, and one Ft. Jackson soldier, handling air-ground communications, were in the party.

The vultures were still circling today. Columbia Record photographer Douglas Martin, flying with Capt. Davis and Sp3C Bruce Knodel, reported that the area was so thickly-grown it was impossible to see the ground, even from a 100-foot altitude. They could see the vultures roosting in nearby trees, Martin reported.

The point toward which the ground party was heading was about one-half mile from the Wateree River.

Capt. Davis reported seeing a large alligator in a partial clearing near the scene. members of the search party were armed as protection against these reptiles or snakes.