However, the search party aboard the National Convair had decided that the last known radar position (2913'N, 8840'W) should be searched first. 1021022013 429b747-428bcf 7 I know that he loved those babies and that if he were alive I am sure I would have heard from him. 16cm . 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. Clearly in shock, she turned to the reporter and said: "What can I say? (If any were available prior to my introduction to flying, though, I can't be sure.) The FBI discovered there was much more to the kindly old Dr Spears than met the eye. Aviation Accident Report: National Airlines Flight 967, Aviation Accident Report: National Airlines Flight 967 Report. During this period an underwater television camera was lowered twice on the contact from the VIGOR but only marine life was observed. None of these nine persons had been subjected to fire or smoke before death, as demonstrated by low carboxyhemoglobin levels in blood and tissue. Crew qualifications and experience were amply high in all respects and an investigation disclosed no irregularity in this connection. Flight 967 (1959) Flight 2511 (1960) Flight 27 (1973) Flight 193 (1978) Category. Initially, there was some speculation based on the fact that a noted Chicago mobster--Ellis Itchy Mandel--was on the flight. Examination of the liferafts and lifevests indicated that they had not been used for their intended purposes or prepared for such use, and all damage had been accidental and random. Despite these strange details, Mrs Taylor stuck to her story--her ex-husband had been hypnotized. A careful search was made for witnesses. November 16, 1959: National Airlines Flight 967 on a flight from Tampa, Florida to New Orleans crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. This search was also unsuccessful. Tampa Police Detective John C. Daniels was among those who did not buy the hypnosis theory: Taylor was in debt over his head. The pilot planned to conduct solo aerobatic flight manoeuvres in the National Airlines merged with Pan Am in 1980. Sun 4/2. Join to view profile. A bomb was suspected. Some of the bodies showed distinct evidence of burning on portions exposed above their waterlines. [1], Investigators learned that William Taylor, a fellow felon and longtime criminal accomplice of Spears,[1] had boarded Flight 967 using a ticket made out to "Dr. Great post! 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. Track planes in real-time on our flight tracker map and get up-to-date flight status & airport information. It was founded in 1934 as a Florida-based airline. The second radar station at Houma, Louisiana, picked up the flight at 0046, on track and at 14,000feet altitude. One part of the investigation focused on the passengers. After this case, planes continued to disintegrate in flight due to explosive decompression. Turska claimed that once he found out about the plane crash fiasco, he immediately told Spears to leave, and then went straight to see his attorney. He had become financially successful in Texas as a . If there was, did it come before or after the crash? This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. He was charged with unlawful possession of an automobile but due to lack of evidence was never charged in the alleged bombing of Flight 967. The main section of the wreckage has never been found despite the efforts of Navy and Coast Guard divers. At first, Turska downplayed his association with Spears, saying they were merely acquaintances and that Spears had showed up out of the blue. It is perhaps no coincidence that a PR man from National Airlines wrote a book in 1963 accusing Spears of being responsible for the crash. If Dr Spears was somehow responsible for both incidents, that would make him responsible for the loss of 76 lives, making him one of the most prolific killers in American history. 03 hrs 40 mins . Investigators were divided on whether the aircraft broke apart on impact with the water, or exploded in the air before it went down. Meanwhile she campaigned in the courts to have him declared legally dead (which would give her son access to the life insurance money). Mrs Spears replied that she had not. While spiralling, radio contact was established with Coast Guard aircraft although no direct contact was possible with Coast Guard surface vessels due to the lack of compatible radio frequencies. The the bodies can get torn apart depending on their exact location on the plane, whether they were strapped in or not. 8839'W. Such a bummer. Select the responses you agree with. Mrs Spears? Contact Us. A reporter happened to be in her home at the time. Mrs Taylor recalled that Dr Spears had held an unnatural sway over her former husband. Searching continued through November23. This is the last known radio contact with Flight967. In Autumn 1960, while in jail, Spears agreed to a taped interview with reporter Ed Barker. A hypothesis arose that Spears, who had befriended Taylor in prison, tricked Taylor into boarding the flight with a piece of luggage containing a bomb. Yet cracks soon appeared in this image too. -, Press J to jump to the feed. I was kind of expecting to hear Spears was somehow involved in JFK's assassination. All 42 on board were presumed killed in the incident. aviation industry. Here are the names of the people from the flight manifest. The flight accepted the clearance and stated it would remain at 14,000feet a little longer. * Boeing 727-035 The flight was estimated to be at the Crab Intersection, a customary reporting point, at 0004. 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. 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. 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. The bodies were stripped of clothing and revealed severe burns, he said. Don't have an account? Investigation failed to reveal any item of maintenance of either the aircraft or its powerplants which could be significantly related to the accident. 2912.3'N, Long. Taylor would fly and Spears would drive. After forging several checks, he had skipped town and completely abandoned his first family. In 1964, it became the first exclusively jet powered service in the United States, and by 1970 became the third airline to offer transcontinental passenger flights. Robert Vernon Spears, a nationally known naturopathic doctor from . Adequate fuel, with reserve, was carried. The two had met in the Missouri State Penitentiary, back when Taylor was still known as Albert O. Thompson. Nothing unusual was observed and no other objects were observed in the vicinity of the flight which indicated to the station that any difficulty was being encountered. 50 years ago, in the early morning of January 6, 1960 on a flight bound from New York to Miami, National Flight 2511 crashed near Bolivia, North Carolina. BOLIVIA, N.C. (WECT) - Shortly after 2:31 a.m. on Jan. 6, 1960, the peaceful night sky over the mouth of the Cape Fear River was rocked by a large blast. National Airlines Flight 967, a DC-7B on a flight from Tampa, Florida to New Orleans, crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. - November 16, 1959, a DC-7B flown on an interchange route with Delta Air Lines, in a Delta aircraft but with a NAL crew National Airlines Flight 967, en route from Tampa to New Orleans, disappeared over the Gulf of Mexico. He planned to intimidate the witness in that case somehow with a bomb (not to kill her but to intimidate her). He also told them that "after he left I found a case of hidden dynamite". C. L. McGAVERN, Jacksonville, Florida, RENFRO (no first name), arrived from Orlando, JACK ATKINSON, Miami Springs, an inspector for the Federal Aviation Agency, Self-Styled: Chasing Dr Robert Vernon Spears by Alan C. Logan, Civil Aeronautics Board - Aircraft Accident Report, June 11, 1962, Robert Spears, 1959 bomb suspect, dies in Dallas". With this information, Mrs Taylor's lawyer called the Tampa police department and the newspapers. The tower is about 30 miles west of the crash site. What a tangled web. This air traffic control instruction/clearance was issued through National Airlines' radio station/office at Pensacola, Florida, a normal procedure before making the approach to Moisant International Airport (KMSY) in New Orleans. At that time there was also very little airport security. The FBI then tracked him down through surveillance. Carefully the investigators went through the flight manifest. According to Alan C. Logans book, Taylor had also met with Frank in New York (though Logan does not explain why). Search and rescue facilities were activated and the Coast Guard had search aircraft and surface craft in the suspect area before daylight. 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 Civil Aeronautics Board investigated the cause of the crash. Three days before the crash, (the day Spears had arrived in Tampa) Taylor and Spears were seen together enjoying a lavish meal in the Hillsboro Hotel. Frank was covered by $900,000 in life insurance policies at the time of his death, and had also been under investigation for corruption. The radar observer testified that this disappearance was characteristic of a target going below the scope's limits. Bombs Indicated in Two Air Disasters Monday, Dec 2 2013 . Please note . Early that morning, they spotted something: a small amount of debris, a large oil slick, and several floating bodies. This material totaled possibly less than one percent of all such material within the fuselage. Spears himself apparently admitted to having met with this man in New York City. Dr Spears (who was calling himself Dr Rhodes) had tried to file down the numbers on the cars registration numbers and had even used dynamite to damage the car's crankcase. Track National Aeronautics and Space Administration #967 flight from Houston Ellington to Victoria Rgnl. It turned out Mr Taylor was not just a gullible friend of Dr Spears--he was a criminal himself, Spears partner in crime for many years. These were determined, the aircraft were spiralled down to the same site, and the bearings were radioed to the Coast Guard and plotted on their charts as 2907'N and 8833'W. At 00:55 the aircraft suddenly crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, he had vanished on November 16, 1959 - the very same day that airplane went down in the Gulf. This debris included parts of seats, parts of overhead racks, upholstery, items of clothing, parts of leather suitcases, shoes, a pack of cigarettes. The National crew consisted of Captain Frank Eugene Todd, Copilot Dick . Clearly, Dr Spears had not been on that plane. 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. 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 inertia of the bodies was plainly downward and forward and the forces at impact were severe. After not hearing from Taylor for a few days, and discovering he had not showed up for work, Alice became worried. Intensive sea and air searches resulted in finding ten floating bodies and a small amount of floating debris the following morning. Current weather reports and forecasts showed both destination and alternates to be and to remain above the approved minimums. 02:55. NATIONAL AIRLINES, INC., DOUGLAS DC-7B, N4891C The flight had been on its way from Tampa, Florida, to New Orleans. 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. Goodness, I'm on the wrong plane!" Cheapest ticket price on Dubai to Toronto Skycraft Air Transport flight air ticket at MakeMyTrip UAE. 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. No suggestion of unfamiliarity by National crews of Delta interchange aircraft was found during the investigation. This position was buoyed and two dives were made in depths of 210 feet. And just a freak coincidence that a couple of conmen just happened to have a ticket? This matter will be detailed later in this report. Spears had a long history of crime, having been arrested 17 times under 14 different aliases. https://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=Aviation_Accident_Report:_National_Airlines_Flight_967&oldid=9238655. Logan seems to be a firm defender of Spears. On the night of November 15, 1959, a DC-7 with forty-two persons aboard took off from Tampa International Airport on a regularly scheduled flight to New Orleans. National Airlines Flight 193, registration N4744, Donna, was a Boeing 727-235 en route from Miami, Florida to Pensacola on May 8, 1978. . For 3-1/2 to 4minutes the flight continued on a normal track of approximately 296 degrees magnetic. February 1, 1960 LINK. This position was determined by VOR bearings taken from 14,000feet altitude. However, Taylor purchased life insurance in his own name at the airport before departure; when his ex-wife applied to collect, the substitution was discovered. Flight hour logbooks will be required at time of your Flight Assessment for verification. * Douglas DC-6B . According to Logans book, Mrs Taylor was media savvy, and exaggerated her closeness with Taylor before his disappearance.
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