Serving the High Plains

Pages past - Dec. 7

On this date ...

1972: Several survivors of a plane crash earlier in the week at Tucumcari Municipal Airport said they were counting their blessings.

The Lockheed twin-engine plane, chartered by Investment Dynamics Corporation of Minneapolis, crashed at the airport while attempting an instrument landing on Sunday night, killing the pilot and co-pilot and three passengers. Six passengers were injured.

According to later reports, the crew had failed to realize the plane was misaligned with the airport’s runway due to limited visibility.

• An unidentified ranch hand from Mexico was found dead in a house of stab wounds at the Gallegos Ranch headquarters. A 20-year-old Mexico immigrant was arrested in Logan and was being held in the Quay County Jail on murder charges.

• A Logan woman was in fair condition at Trigg Memorial Hospital after being injured in a two-car crash at Main and Lake streets in Tucumcari. A southbound pickup truck driven by a Tucumcari man failed to stop at the intersection, hitting the woman’s car.

• Montoya rancher Jimmie Randals was selected as Man of the Year by the New Mexico Quarter Horse Association. He shared the honor with Jack Kyle of Santa Rosa.

• Jim Peabody, Jeff Nunn, Jesse Davis, Mason Warren, Steve Schlientz and Mark McCausland of the Tucumcari High School football team earned all-district honors. Lovington, which won the district, had 12 all-district selections. Portales had seven and St. Pius three.