The body of Dr. Malter A,
Salatich was recovered Monday afternoon, about four hours after the wreckage of his light plane was located in a swamp near; New Orleans International Air-I port.
The physician, who was president of the Charity Hospital medical staff, had been missing since Sunday night.
A Coast Guard helicopter pilot said Dr, Salatich's plane apparently hit a tall cypress just before it disappeared from the airport control tower's radar screen at 9:12 p. m. Dr. Salatich, a 43-year-old| general surgeon, was en route td New Orleans from Hammond where he visited friends' Sunday afternoon,
Funeral services will be held; Wednesday morning in the House of Bultman, 3338 St. Charles. The: exact time had not been decided Monday night.
Mass will follow in the St. Piusj X Church, 6666 Spanish Fort blvd, and burial will be in the Metairie Cemetery.
IN SWAMP AREA The plane wreckage was found: shortly after 9 a. m. in a densely-forrested swamp about midway between the airport and Bonnet Carre spillway, and midway between Airline hwy. and Lake Pontehartrain.
A search for the plane started shortly after the airport control tower lost contact with it. Comdr. Hap Easter, pilot o:
the helicopter, said Dr. Salatich's plane apparently struck a tall cypress and then cut its pay through trees as it crashed Into the swamp which contained about a half-foot of water.
Trees in the area are so tall that men were lowered by rope some 60 feet from the Coast Guard helicopter to the crash scene. They were Capt. A. J. Scardino of the Jefferson Parish sheriff's office arid Jefferson fireman Fred Rihner, and they used cutting torches to gain access to the body which was still fin the plane.
FRIEND STAYS BEHIND A friend of Dr. Salatich, Vincent J. Palmintier, said he decided against flying to New Or-[leans with the surgeon only minutes before Dr. Salatich left Hammond.
Palmintier, a resident of 6737 Gen. Diaz, was contacted Mon-|day in Hammond at the home of his parents.
He said Dr. Salatich left the Hammond airport at 7:40 p. m. and should have reached New Orleans about 8p. m, unless the pilot became lost. I He intended to fly with Dr. Salatich but changed his mind before the flight when his wife ! urged him not to because she j did not want to drive back to jpew Orleans alone, he said. § Palmintier also said that the surgeon talked about flying be-- the trip. "Nothing actually s wrong with a plane. It is tan error when they crash,'* ^he quoted Dr. Salatich as say-
'ing.
HOSPITAL STAFF HEAD
A member of a well known New Orleans medical family, Dr Salatich was elected president of the Charity Hospital
group last October. His offices were in the Maison Blanche. A brother, Dr. Peter B. Sala tich, a dentist, said the victin was a qualified instrument pilot and had been flying, for about five years. He owned the plane in partnership with another man, the brother said. A native and lifelong resident of New Orleans, Dr. Salatich
American Board of General Surgeons, and a member of the Orleans Parish Medical Society, the Louisiana Medical Association and the American Medical Association, his brother said. ACTIVE IN DRAMATICS Dr. Salatich was active in community theater work and I last appeared in a production of 'The Gazebo" at Gallery Circle Theater.
He was also a member of the New Orleans Country Club. Dr. Salatich resided at 722 Emerald.
Survivors include his widow, the former Marilyn Graham; two sons, Malter Jr. and Dale; his father, Dr. Peter B. Salatich Sr. four brothers, Dr. John S. Salatich, Dr. Salatich's grandfather was the late Dr. J. M Malter.
