EVERETT ENGERSOL, Evergreen Park, Illinois, PEDRO MARCO, arrived in Miami from Havana, A. VINAS, Havana and Loma Linda, California, The REV. Then he abruptly told her was headed to Atlanta the next day, to look for a job there. He had "an uncanny ability to move on at a moment's notice". Logan seems to be a firm defender of Spears. Hudson is an Equal Opportunity Employer of all qualified individuals. November 10 of 1958, National became the first airline to introduce domestic jet service in the United States, with a flight between Miami 's international airport and Idlewild International Airport in New York. * C-46 Commando Accident; Date: November 16, 1959: Summary: In-flight explosion (Bombing suspected, but not proven) Site: Gulf of Mexico Meanwhile she campaigned in the courts to have him declared legally dead (which would give her son access to the life insurance money). Investigation failed to reveal any item of maintenance of either the aircraft or its powerplants which could be significantly related to the accident. None of this disclosed conclusive evidence as to the genesis of the accident. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. There was one witness--the attendant of a lookout tower 30 miles west of the crash site, who. We have been unable to find any such relationship. [] The final ruling was probable severe turbulence.. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Questions also surround the third man involved in all this--William Turska, the naturopath who Spears went to stay with in the immediate aftermath of the crash. For weeks Dr Spears was mourned along with the rest of the victims. National Airlines Flight 967, registration N4891C,[1] was a Douglas DC-7B aircraft that disappeared over the Gulf of Mexico en route from Tampa, Florida, to New Orleans, Louisiana, on November 16, 1959. The United States Fish and Wild Life, M/VOREGON, searched for 24hours on December14 and 15, 1959, dragging a 35foot wide net over the botton at a position centered around Lat. He was subsequently apprehended by Federal authorities in Phoenix, Arizona, for having unlawful possession of Mr. Taylor's vehicle. You can help us keep FlightAware free by allowing ads from FlightAware.com. Thats not necessarily so. OP, thank you for your work on this, especially noting the numerous sources you cited. If there was, did it come before or after the crash? This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Networks opinion as to the cause of the accident. That crash remains officially unexplained also. 1 adult. The Civil Aeronautics Board (predecessor of the NTSB) did not find a probable cause for the accident due to the lack of evidence. After several decades of false names, new identities, fresh starts, abandoned wives, abandoned lives--he had spent the last years running "a lucrative underground abortion business". The FBI had found Dr Spears through an ex-wife of Spearss associate Mr Turska. See if your flight has been delayed or cancelled and track the live position on a map. Sometimes passengers even boarded the wrong planes by accident. Accordingly, communications between Coast Guard surface vessels and the National Airlines Convair were relayed by Coast Guard aircraft. ASSURANCE and the U.S.S. Two dozen books on hypnosis had been found in Spears's home in Dallas. Join to view profile. Robert Vernon Spears (June 26, 1894 - May 2, 1969) was a naturopath who is alleged to have placed a bomb aboard National Airlines Flight 967, an aircraft that went missing over the Gulf of Mexico on November 16, 1959, killing 42 people.. History. Recently, she said, Al Taylor had been strangely depressed and withdrawn, but his mood only lifted when he talked to Spears. Before the crash, Spears had briefly sought advice on his pending abortion case from a New York City lawyer named Julian Frank. The Navy utilized several vessels equipped with advanced apparatus and manned with skilled specialists. All 42 on board were presumed killed in the incident. Clearly in shock, she turned to the reporter and said: "What can I say? Consultative detailed and customized flight tracking data reports. At this time the flight also contacted New Orleans company radio confirming the ATC clearance and reporting the weather to be CAVU with low solid (undercast) to the WNW. At 1:16 AM, company radio attempted to contact Flight 967 to no avail; attempts by FAA en route facilities, New Orleans Approach Control, and air traffic control were unable to raise the flight. She was an unflappable woman in her late fifties, with a fondness for ostentatious feathered hats, pearl necklaces, and large brooches. This is also unexplained. He had become financially successful in Texas as a naturopath, even becoming president of the Texas Naturopath Association in 1954. Carefully the investigators went through the flight manifest. Alice was not to be dissuaded. NH967 (All Nippon Airways) - Live flight status, scheduled flights, flight arrival and departure times, flight tracks and playback, flight route and airport The world's most popular flight tracker. When the aircraft was destroyed, authorities would assume that Spears had himself been a victim and his wife would be able to collect on his life insurance. * Boeing 747-135 According to Junior, Taylor was carrying over $600 in cash--a lot of money at the time, especially for a man in serious debt. Get the FlightAware App for the best flight tracking experience on your device. Thanks for writing this all up. Debt collectors got involved--suddenly "every repo man in America" was looking for a pink Plymouth. We appreciate you trying our new Live Surface Map feature. However, the Clearfield, Pennsylvania, Progress speculated in its Nov. 17, 1959, edition that the aircraft may have been brought down by a bomb: "Was there an explosion aboard the National Airlines DC-7B liner that crashed in the Gulf of Mexico Monday with 42 persons aboard? If he were not, I don't know anything I could do about it. [Here she began choking back tears] "I know one thing, we had planned on celebrating my son's birthday and we had bigger plans for Christmas. Track American Airlines (AA) #967 flight from Austin-Bergstrom Intl to Dallas-Fort Worth Intl. A Delta Airlines DC-7, similar to the accident aircraft, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, introducing citations to additional sources, Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft, Robert Spears, 1959 bomb suspect, dies in Dallas, Civil Aeronautics Board Aircraft Accident Report on Flight 967, Clear Lake crash ("The Day the Music Died"), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Airlines_Flight_967&oldid=1123344434, Accidents and incidents involving the Douglas DC-7, Airliner accidents and incidents in the United States, Aviation accidents and incidents in the Atlantic Ocean, Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1959, National Airlines (19341980) accidents and incidents, Unsolved mass murders in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from September 2021, All articles needing additional references, Articles lacking in-text citations from September 2021, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2015, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, In-flight explosion (Bombing suspected, but not proven), This page was last edited on 23 November 2022, at 06:57. Franks body was found with injuries significantly different from and much more extensive than the other passengers, injuries which were inconsistent with the type of injury usually incurred in an aircraft accident. Track National Aeronautics and Space Administration #967 flight from Houston Ellington to Victoria Rgnl. I am not a shill but it is an interesting book.]. 8839'W on March 11, 1960, but the XN3 TV camera revealed it to be marine wreckage. It may be possible that the stop was in Dallas during the time of the crash. Back then, you could get on a plane, put something in the luggage rack, and then right before take off say "Excuse me, is this the plane to Dallas? The prosecutor in Spearss abortion case pointed out they already had sworn affidavits from the abortion witnesses, which they could simply have read out in court. Logan asks a number of questions--whether Taylor could have planned a murder-suicide without Spearss knowledge, whether Taylor boarded the flight at all, whether the last-minute insurance policy was an intentional red herring to throw off investigators and utterly confuse everyone? Some twelve to fifteen minutes later a Coast Guard aircraft arrived and dropped smoke markers. Texas International walked away from their foiled attempt with a multi-million dollar stock profit and was poised for Lorenzo's next venturesa startup airline in the high-density East coast corridor (New York Air), and subsequent acquisition of Continental Airlines. National Airlines 19341980 "" 19701978 . National Airlines Flight 967, registration N4891C, was a Douglas DC-7B aircraft that disappeared over the Gulf of Mexico en route from Tampa, Florida, to New Orleans, Louisiana, on November 16, 1959. Among the 42 names of the dead--there was a passenger named Dr Robert Vernon Spears--a distinguished naturopath from Dallas, Texas. GADSS-compliant global tracking and alerting for airlines and aircraft operators. Revenue passenger traffic in millions of passenger-miles The inertia of the bodies was plainly downward and forward and the forces at impact were severe. At 00:55 the aircraft suddenly crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. [1] November 16 National Airlines Flight 967, a Douglas DC-7B, crashes in the Gulf of Mexico with the loss of all 42 people on board . Veterans, volunteers sought for Honor Flight It costs a lot to charter a flight that will carry 75 veterans from the Golden Isles to Washington, D.C., for the annual Honor Flight. Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. National Airlines Flight967, a DC-7B, N4891C, crashed in the Gulf of Mexico while en route from Tampa, Florida, to New Orleans, Louisiana, on .mw-parser-output .nowrap,.mw-parser-output .nowrap a:before,.mw-parser-output .nowrap .selflink:before{white-space:nowrap}November 16, 1959, about 0055c.s.t. I was kind of expecting to hear Spears was somehow involved in JFK's assassination. Shortly thereafter a Coast Guard helicopter arrived. I am quite sure that Taylor would not have exploded it.. Frank was covered by $900,000 in life insurance policies at the time of his death, and had also been under investigation for corruption. DC-7 [] Template . The bodies were stripped of clothing and revealed severe burns, he said. Taylor, investigators discovered, was wanted in Washington DC and Philadephlia under a variety of assumed names at the time of his disappearance. The man was a con artist. The agent's attention was drawn elsewhere, however, and he never noticed if the man boarded the flight or not. The National crew consisted of Captain Frank Eugene Todd, Copilot Dick . There was no radio message of impending trouble. Air Route Traffic Control cleared Flight967 over the established route across the Gulf from Tampa to New Orleans at 14,000feet altitude. The position of 2913'N and 8840'W - at which the aircraft went off the military radar scope - was used as a focal point of search. After forging several checks, he had skipped town and completely abandoned his first family. Precision Air sales officer Yvonne Baldwin said the route had enormous potential, and will shorten travel times between the two countries which until now were via Nairobi in Kenya. Could it be that in spite of this vast, tangled web--this was just another plane crash? As Mrs Spears described it, "He saw an opportunity to leave me and the babies with some financial security. Interchange flights like this were fairly common before the CAB awarded more direct routes beginning with the Southeast to West Coast case in 1961. A strong sharp contact, definitely bottom and metallic, was made at position 2911.6'N, 8838.2'W at a depth of 245feet. -, Press J to jump to the feed. National Airlines Flight 967 of November 15, 1959, was scheduled between Miami, Florida, and New Orleans, Louisiana, with a stop at Tampa, Florida. These charts have been preserved for possible future use. The cultures of National and Pan Am also proved to be incompatible, making workforce integration difficult. It was also convenient for National Airlines. November 5 After suffering an in-flight engine fire, the second North American X-15 (AF 56-6671), piloted by Scott Crossfield, breaks its Back making an emergency landing on Rosamond Dry Lake, California. This position is about 108miles east-southeast of New Orleans, about 30miles east of Pilottown, near the mouth of the Mississippi River, and very nearly on the planned course. The main wreckage has not been located despite several well planned searches. The flight departed Miami at 2212[1] and landed at Tampa at 2300. She later determined that Taylors brown jacket was missing from his apartment, though everything else seemed untouched, just as if he had stepped out to buy a newspaper. Posts about National Airlines Flight 967 written by The Flightpath. Lt. James L. Sigman, executive officer of the Coast Guard air detachment at New Orleans, said the wreckage was spread over a comparatively small area of two to three miles. A considerable amount of the floating debris also exhibited signs of burning but only above waterlines. The aircraft was crossing an area of severe weather and possibly flew into a waterspout. Despite intensive searches over the following months and years by the Coast Guard, Civil Aeronautics Board, the US Navy, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and private companies--the rest of the wreckage has never been found. The passenger manifest for Tampa-New Orleans listed 36passengers. Turska? In 1964, it became the first exclusively jet powered service in the United States . It is really unfortunate the wreckage was never discovered. [] Then you also have to think about the fact that Al Taylor was his friend since 1928. The main section of the wreckage has never been found despite the efforts of Navy and Coast Guard divers. In fact, he had vanished on November 16, 1959 - the very same day that airplane went down in the Gulf. 8840'W. Pan Am paid too high a price for National, and was ill prepared to integrate National's domestic route network with Pan Am's own globe-girdling international network. The sea was practically calm with waves about 1-1/2feet high moving from a northerly direction with a period of about five seconds. Some of the bodies showed distinct evidence of burning on portions exposed above their waterlines. Robert Vernon Spears, a nationally known naturopathic doctor from . The flight originated in Miami at 1022 PM the p This segment of the flight was completely routine. This material totaled possibly less than one percent of all such material within the fuselage. In one letter, Spears urged Taylor not to use his real name in future communications, but to refer to him as F. Suicide by a passenger holding large life insurance policies was the probable cause. Flight data API with on-demand flight status and flight tracking data. I wonder how long it took the police to find out about all these shady characters. During this period an underwater television camera was lowered twice on the contact from the VIGOR but only marine life was observed. She received a court order to open his post office box. If it had been, I doubt there would be much mystery as to what happened. Spears said: If the business did detonate during the flight, it had to be by accident [] Im still of the opinion that the plane--something else happened to it. Summary 185 Max talks about columnist Martha Lunken's flight under a bridge, which led to the revocation of her certificates. Great attention to detail. All 42 occupants perished. (Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives) On the 8th of May 1978, a National Airlines Boeing 727 was on approach to Pensacola, Florida when it suddenly touched down in Escambia Bay amid heavy fog. Logan points out that much of the public demonization of Spears resulted from the fact that he performed abortions--something that is viewed very differently in todays political discourse. But in 1957 he was expelled from the organization in a bribery scandal. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. The flight originated in Miami at 10:22 PM the previous evening, landed at Tampa at 11:00 PM, and departed for New Orleans at 11:22 PM. The autopsies of the bodies, all of which were identified by fingerprints, indicated that all had received traumatic injuries: injuries indicated that all nine persons had been seated at the time the aircraft struck the water. [] The fire marks on bodies and on debris were of the type caused exclusively by a flash surface fire, probably both hot and brief, upon impact with the water. Turska participated in a few interviews about the case--notably in Life Magazine--in which he played the part of a bemused bystander. Coast Guard vessels suggested searching an area some distance to the southwest of the position 2913'N, 8840'W. The flight was estimated to be at the Crab Intersection, a customary reporting point, at 0004. This indicated to him that the explosion took place after the plane hit the water. 18cm Wingspan approx. "[citation needed]. To me it just doesnt add up that Spears is going to tell his best friend of many decades, a man with essentially no history of violence, to take on this package like its Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.. Save your money with discount and promotions and find the best deals on Trip.com! This aircraft was flown to Tampa then out the NL route toward New Orleans to the position of 2913'N, 8840'W, at an altitude of 14,000feet. Taylor had also been married before his marriage to Alice. Lowest fares guaranteed on flights from Dubai to Toronto by Skycraft Air Transport. A few moments before the departure of Flight967 from Tampa, Taylor purchased a flight insurance policy in the amount of $37,500 from a coin-operated machine at Tampa International Airport making his son the beneficiary and showing his destination as Dallas, Texas. Investigators were divided on whether the aircraft broke apart on impact with the water, or exploded in the air before it went down. [2] There was no evidence of any connection between Spears and the accident. In fact, Turska had also been facing abortion charges in November 1959 (though Turskas charges were later dropped). 65 years old at the time of the crash, he had been the national secretary of the National Association of Naturopathic Physicians and the head of the Texas Naturopath Association. A Spirit Airlines flight from Dallas to Orlando was diverted to an airport in Jacksonville, Fla., Thursday, March 2, 2023, after a battery from a passenger's item caught fire in an overhead bin . National Airlines Flight 967 took off from Tampa (TPA) at 23:32 for a flight to New Orleans (MSY) at FL140. Acknowledging "there is little or no physical evidence on which to explain this accident", the CAB was forced to conclude, after nearly three years of investigation: Because of lack of physical evidence, the probable cause of this accident is unknown. Investigators determined that the flight crew was competent and experienced. Nearby radar stations reported "the flight was very close to being on course and on schedule.'' In the weeks after the crash, the mystery of Flight 967 deepened. You can easily find cheap flights / LCC plane tickets from Lloydminster Airport in Lloydminster to Columbia. Nothing. Investigators found less than 1% of its structural components and no conclusive evidence that a bomb was used. (These bearings could be duplicated at low altitude; the VOR bearings could not be, due to line-of-sight limitations.). First week only $4.99! Company calls to 967 continued without result for some time. The search was resumed on November 26, 1959, to the south and west of the previous area based upon drift studies of recovered debris. 0 bags. This new story was made public in 1963. There injuries indicated that all nine persons had been seated at the time the aircraft struck the water. Compare airfares and book tickets with lowest price on different airlines in real time 24 hours. Taylor's not going to let himself get talked into something as crazy as getting on a plane that's about to blow up. National Airlines Flight 2511, registration N8225H, was a Douglas DC-6B aircraft which exploded over Bolivia, North Carolina en route from New York International (Idlewild) Airport, New York City, New York, to Miami, Florida on January 6, 1960.All 34 on board were killed in the accident. Flight Departure Times. You received a Purple Heart on or after September 11, 2001, and were honorably discharged after any amount of service, or. During this time, Spears had briefly visited his wife (on January 7)--so her answers in her first interview were a lie. He asked her not to tell Junior this. This position was buoyed and two dives were made in depths of 210 feet. He also cites the testimony of Spearss wife, neighbors and friends who spoke of him as a lovely person and a gentleman and expressed utter disbelief that he would be capable of doing something so heinous as taking down a passenger aircraft. He was sentenced to the maximum term of 5 years. After he left, he phoned again three times, again asking for Junior. A theory also emerged that Spears was connected to another unexplained air disaster just months later. Science Earth Science Question 5 Should national parks be preserved? We partner with our EMS and hospital customers to solve the challenges of patient logistics and save lives. I do think Taylor took Spears spot on the plane last minute (hence only the briefcase, no luggage), but I don't think Taylor nor Spears intended to blow up the plane. 1021022013 429b747-428bcf 7 According to Alan C. Logans book, Taylor had also met with Frank in New York (though Logan does not explain why). [5], "Con Man, Best Man, An Air Crash - A Far Out, Far Up Mystery", "Robert Spears, 1959 bomb suspect, dies in Dallas", Aviation Safety Network report on Flight 967, Civil Aeronautics Board Aircraft Accident Report on Flight 967, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Spears_(naturopath)&oldid=1106844718, This page was last edited on 26 August 2022, at 19:28. May 3, 1969 LINK, Con Man, Best Man, An Air Crash - A Far Out, Far Up Mystery". The National crew consisted of Captain Frank Eugene Todd, Copilot Dick Sheridan Beebee, Flight Engineer George Henry Clark, Jr., Stewardesses Patricia Ann Hires and Donna Jean Osburn, and additional crew member Jack Atkinson of the Federal Aviation Agency. It has been claimed that Dr Spears tried to access a vial of cyanide before his sentencing--but some have disputed this. At the time of these observations the stars were visible, the weather was hazy and there were no surface craft within his range of vision. National Airlines Flight 193, registration N4744, Donna, was a Boeing 727-235 en route from Miami, Florida to Pensacola on May 8, 1978. . Logan alleges "Turska was planning his own exit strategy" before the crash--in September 1959 he had put up his Arizona property for sale: "priced to sell, owner leaving state". Spears said Taylor was going to fly to Dallas and that he would drive the car, but flight 967 was going to New Orleans not Dallas? Otherwise, the loading of the aircraft was normal with the center of gravity located within prescribed limits and the gross weight some 11,000pounds under maximum permissible for takeoff. He was cleared by the New Orleans Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC - ZNO) located in the terminal building at New Orleans Lakefront Airport to descend to and maintain 5,000 feet and to report leaving 8,000 feet. According to the hotel staff, Taylor was talking about boarding a flight to Dallas--the waitress specifically remembered making small talk about Dallas. A B D Yes, they help protect natural wonders No, the National Park Service is a waste of federal funding Yes, national parks provided recreational activities and environmental education No, national parks should return the land to indigenous Americans Taylor? With more than 800 employees worldwide, the National Family offers rewarding opportunities for professional growth through our affiliate organizations National Air Cargo and National Airlines.We invite you to become a part of our award-winning team, and contribute to meaningful work in aviation, transportation, and global logistics. The line between the airports does. National Airlines Flight 967; A Delta Airlines DC-7, similar to the accident aircraft. According to Logans book, Mrs Taylor was media savvy, and exaggerated her closeness with Taylor before his disappearance. As it turned out, William Turska was not a model citizen himself. One of these was not aboard, although a final passenger count showed 36passengers upon departure from Tampa. It may safely be concluded that there was no warning of the disaster. [1][2][3] In February 1960, Spears was convicted of interstate transportation of a stolen car (Taylor's Plymouth). [Some context here: In the 50s, life insurance vending machines were commonplace in airports. But where had he been? ", Tampa International Airport, FL (TPA/KTPA), New Orleans International Airport, LA (MSY/KMSY), Accident investigation report completed and information captured, 57 km (35.6 mls) E off Pilottown, LA [Gulf of Mexico] (. His story is absurd, the prosecutor said. Self-employed. The Coast Guard favored the former explanation, while the Air Force favored the latter. Great write up! A subreddit dedicated to the unresolved mysteries of the world. Explosive decompression makes a plane crash look like the plane was blown up with a large bomb, but minus any larger pieces of wreckage as well as explosive residue proving it. Streaming flight data feed for enterprise integrations with real-time, historical and predictive flight data. At that time the control tower at Moisant reported a ceiling of 1,200 feet with three-fourths of a mile visibility, light fog and rain. In the postwar era, its fleet consisted of the: * Convair CV-340 That day the two men also reportedly met with a man they referred to in letters only as "the fellow". 1973 - Skylab 4 launches into orbit on the fourth Skylab mission, bringing the third and final crew to the American space station.. 1965 - Russia's Venera 3, the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface, is launched toward Venus.. 1959 - National Airlines Flight 967, a Douglas DC-7 (registered N4891C) is destroyed by a bomb over the Gulf of Mexico, killing all 42 on . I have not yet been back in that direction, but in my few decades of air travel, every flight to Tampa meant a stop in Houston before moving on, and the same can be said for the return flight. Alan C. Logan is among those who dismiss this second story as fiction. Investigation has disclosed certain details in regard to a last minute boarding of the aircraft at Tampa by a person using another person's ticket. The flight release Tampa-New Orleans was in accordance with the Civil Air Regulations and NAL procedures. Submissions should outline a mystery and provide a link to a more detailed review of the case such as a Wiki article or news report. The second radar station at Houma, Louisiana, picked up the flight at 0046, on track and at 14,000feet altitude. The next morning (November 14), Taylor and Spears were together again--Taylors son Junior saw them drinking and laughing in Spearss hotel room, in a celebratory mood. This is the story Spears gave after his arrest: He said he had been in Tampa and was planning on heading back to Dallas on November 16. Throughout this observation the radar scope indicated no other object. Associate Procurement Agent. * Boeing 727-035 Contact Us. Great post! He added that New Orleans had instrument meteorological conditions, and indicated that the crew had planned to use this method on the approach until the plane was below the low ceiling. He moved to California and took up hypnotism, his business was with a doctor performing abortions (which were then illegal in the U.S.). After not hearing from Taylor for a few days, and discovering he had not showed up for work, Alice became worried.
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