Del Rio CAP Unit Spots Plane Crash By CAROLE THOMPSON News-Herald Staff Two members of the Del Rio Civil Air Patrol were responsible for locating the twin engined Arrow Commander carrying seven people that crashed during a weekend flight from Fort Worth to Laredo. The two man crew of Capt. Bill Higgins, Catholic chaplain at Laughlin Air Force Base, and Lt. Tom Judkins, were the first to spot the airplane that went down late Saturday night after leaving San Antonio International Airport. Father Higgins, commander of the local CAP chapter, had been notified of the missing aircraft late Tuesday night by the regional headquarters in Abilene. The search was begun after the plane did not return to Ft. Worth by Monday. Father Higgins and Lt. Judkins took off in two CAP aircraft at 8:46 Wednesday morning from Del Rio International. "We tried to make it in to the airport at Laredo but visibility was so poor we landed at the airstrip in Cotulla. When we arrived about 11 a.m. we notified CAP officials there and were assigned an area to cover." said the chaplain. One of the airplanes used by the local CAP does not have instrument equipment for flying in heavy weather so the two pilots began their search in the Cessna 182, which is instrument equiped. "The last word the air route controller at Houston Center had was that the plane had been on a 190 degree radial about 30 miles outside of Cotulla headed toward Laredo," said Father Higgins, "'The Cotulla CAP also had a possible fix from the Laredo airport." Because of the bad weather all search airplanes had to fly lower than normal search altitudes. *'We were assigned an area 8 miles long and 5 miles wide along Highway 35. Our route started 30 miles south of Cotulla. On about our fifth sweep we located what we were sure was a crash site. "Because we were so low we were out of radio contact with Cotulla and had to climb up to 1500 feet to radio headquarters." Father Higgins and Lieutenant Judkins had been flying approximately an hour and 15 minutes before they spotted the wreckage. * * * Seven Killed In Plane Crash LAREDO, Texas (AP) - Authorities have completed the "If we had been able to read tail numbers on the aircraft we could have made a positive in dentification, then but many manufacturers put the numbers on the fusalage and that was severely damaged,' said Father Higgins. After locating the downed airplane, the two pilots began looking for access roads to the site. "We found a small roadway that lead to mile marker 32 on Highway 35. The accident was about 5 miles east near a small lake. That was only about 3 miles off from where Houston Center had said the plane should be. That is very close." Father Higgins and Judkins returned to the airstrip at Cotulla and went with the sheriff's department by automobile to the site. "We were able to make a positive airplane identification from the registration certificate that was aboard," Father Higgins said. After the plane was identified the search team relayed their information to Cotulla and Rescue Control Center at Scott A.F.B., Ill. was notified and the search was terminated. Positive identification of the plane was made about 2:30 p.m. The seven men aboard the plane were later identified as Connie Bowman, pilot and owner of the airplane; Mike Bates, James Hodges, Richard Booth, A.J. Stroup, Dale Whittaker and David Barton. All were from the Fort WorthDallas arca. Father Higgins and Lieutenant Judkins returned to Del Rio shortly after midnight Thursday. The other victims were identified as Mike Bates, 28, of Dallas;