Spears himself apparently admitted to having met with this man in New York City. Track American Airlines (AA) #967 flight from Austin-Bergstrom Intl to Dallas-Fort Worth Intl. Subsequent investigation has failed to reveal the use of any marine signal flash or pyrotechnic, which might have had a somewhat similar appearance, at the time and place. Great post! Debt collectors got involved--suddenly "every repo man in America" was looking for a pink Plymouth. In fact, he had vanished on November 16, 1959 - the very same day that airplane went down in the Gulf. The theory arose that Spears, desperate to avoid trial and wanting a fresh start, had tricked Taylor (perhaps through hypnosis)[1] into boarding the aircraft with a piece of luggage containing a bomb; when the aircraft crashed, it would be assumed that Spears was on board. That was before Spears was found in Arizona with Taylors car. 102 - Wikipedia NASA967 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Flight Tracking As Logan points out, in the first three weeks of 1960 alone there had been four major airline crashes. The National crew consisted of Captain Frank Eugene Todd, Copilot Dick . [1][2][3] In February 1960, Spears was convicted of interstate transportation of a stolen car (Taylor's Plymouth). Spears had a long history of crime, having been arrested 17 times under 14 different aliases. No severe weather was forecast, anticipated or reported at flight altitudes over the route. From January 9, 1960 to January 15, 1960, the U.S.S. As it turned out, William Turska was not a model citizen himself. PENGUIN assisted on November24 and on the following day made sonar contact at position 2916.4N, 8836.7'W. And who was he? FBI National Academy. In fact, Turska had also been facing abortion charges in November 1959 (though Turskas charges were later dropped). 8840'W. The scenes in this video are from the documentary series Air Crash Investigation.None of them belong to me.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Airlines_. I was completely drawn in. The flight's next radio contact was with FAA Pensacola radio at 0031 requesting clearance to New Orleans and reestimating NL1 at 0035. Departure from Tampa, with the same crew, was at 2332. After forging several checks, he had skipped town and completely abandoned his first family. The FBI's FOIA Library contains many files of public interest and historical value. [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. VIGOR searched, using Navy sonar. Sometimes with these mysteries that were so long ago it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the victims were people who were loved and cared for by many. 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. A considerable amount of the floating debris also exhibited signs of burning but only above waterlines. As he said in a recent interview: "The more that I learned through the research about Spears, even though this guy had an incredibly profound criminal past [] he never had any history of violence at all. During this period an underwater television camera was lowered twice on the contact from the VIGOR but only marine life was observed. 46 people perished. AA967 Flight Tracker - Track the real-time flight status of American Airlines AA 967 live using the FlightStats Global Flight Tracker. All 42 occupants perished. He was "100 percent" certain it was Taylor, and when he called out "Hey Al" he said the man turned, but then hastily slipped away into the crowd. The last radar contact with the aircraft--made at 12:55 am, over the open sea--had indicated the plane was still on course to its destination at the time . Such a bummer. 1. This position is six miles south and about five miles east of the radar-observed descent. The National plane was then spiralled in a climbing turn to 7,000feet in order to obtain VOR bearings for this position. Two military radar stations had the flight under surveillance. Life Magazine. The Board obtained search assistance from the United States Navy. "Turska was the one to fear, not Bob, Mrs Spears once said. Science Earth Science Question 5 Should national parks be preserved? Accident; Date: November 16, 1959: Summary: In-flight explosion (Bombing suspected, but not proven) Site: Gulf of Mexico She received a court order to open his post office box. There were nine bodies, a portion of a tenth body, five liferafts, five lifevests, and a highly diversified quantity of buoyant debris entirely from within the cabin and baggage compartments directly below it. 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. Details of accident. She ultimately succeeded, and her son Junior received an undisclosed settlement. He had become financially successful in Texas as a naturopath, even becoming president of the Texas Naturopath Association in 1954. 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. The flight was estimated to be at the Crab Intersection, a customary reporting point, at 0004. According to the hotel staff, Taylor was talking about boarding a flight to Dallas--the waitress specifically remembered making small talk about Dallas. Note the use of the word accident, which is used throughout the report. At the heart of the book is the crash of National Airlines Flight 967, which plunged into the Gulf of Mexico on Nov. 16, 1959. Interchange flights like this were fairly common before the CAB awarded more direct routes beginning with the Southeast to West Coast case in 1961. EVERETT ENGERSOL, Evergreen Park, Illinois, PEDRO MARCO, arrived in Miami from Havana, A. VINAS, Havana and Loma Linda, California, The REV. Weather conditions in the area were poor, which meant that the crew had . Investigation disproved the possibility of collision with another aircraft, either civil or military, and there were no missiles or rockets in flight at the time and place. PDF Total power loss, VH-MTC Hobart, Tasmania 4 April 2010 Fishermen in the Gulf who were questioned stated that they saw low-flying aircraft, but examination of their testimony indicated that they saw search aircraft shortly after the disaster and not the aircraft involved. I loathed him, she said, and had always considered him a bad influence on Al. A mystery woman told a local Tampa newspaper that she had had a relationship with Taylor shortly before his disappearance, and did not believe he was dead. The 36 passengers and six crew aboard Flight 967 from Tampa to New Orleans died in the accident 35.6 mi (57.3 km) off the coast of Pilottown, Louisiana. Post-mortem examinations of the nine bodies, all of which were identified by fingerprints, indicated that all had received traumatic injuries. But in 1957 he was expelled from the organization in a bribery scandal. [] Both men were in the confidence rackets at one time. The Civil Aeronautics Board investigated the cause of the crash. Logan seems to be a firm defender of Spears. Nearby radar stations reported "the flight was very close to being on course and on schedule.'' OP, thank you for your work on this, especially noting the numerous sources you cited. All 42 on board were presumed killed in the incident. 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 aircraft was a DC-7, N 4891C, owned by Delta Air Lines and operated by National under an equipment interchange agreement. According to this new story, in November 1959 Spears was extremely worried about the upcoming abortion trial in Los Angeles. Investigators found less than 1% of its structural components and no conclusive evidence that a bomb was used. It may safely be concluded that there was no warning of the disaster. There was nothing immediately remarkable about Dr Spears. In the investigation of the January 6 crash of a National Airlines DC-6B, agents are inquiring into indications that a lawyer, Mr. Julian Frank, might have blown up the plane killing himself and 33 . The aircraft was airworthy at the time of departure and had an adequate amount of fuel. Note that the whereabouts of DB Cooper on these dates is unaccounted for. 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 U.S.S. * Douglas DC-10-10/30, AviationExplorer.com - The Website For Aviation Enthusiasts, NATIONAL AIRLINES HISTORY FACTS AND PICTURES, Aviation Military and Police Phonetic Alphabet, NTSB Aviation Accidents From Last 10 Years, High Resolution Military Aviation Desktop Wallpapers. National Airlines records do not show a ticket issued in his name and he was not carried on their records as a passenger on Flight967. Contact Us. 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. Mississippi bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth Robert Vernon Spears, a nationally known naturopathic doctor from . Alan C. Logan is among those who dismiss this second story as fiction. * Boeing 747-135 According to the Senior Passenger Agent for National Airlines, there were no established procedures in 1959 for determining if a reporting passenger was the same person for whom the reservation was made. The two had met in the Missouri State Penitentiary, back when Taylor was still known as Albert O. Thompson. Boeing. 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". With this information, Mrs Taylor's lawyer called the Tampa police department and the newspapers. operated a variety of different types of aircraft. Suddenly his strange behavior all made sense to her--her hapless ex-husband was a puppet, under Dr Spearss spell. 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 FBI then tracked him down through surveillance. 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. Select the responses you agree with. We have been unable to find any such relationship. Seven minutes later, National Airlines flight 2511, which had been carrying 29 passengers and 5 crew members, crashed into a field in Brunswick County. 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 aircraft was a DC-7, N 4891C, owned by Delta Air Lines and operated by National under an equipment interchange agreement. Sometimes passengers even boarded the wrong planes by accident. Over the course of their long friendship, Spears and Taylor had worked together on confidence schemes throughout the USA. [] The final ruling was probable severe turbulence.. This dialogue will close in 60 seconds or you can click the exit icon in the top right corner to go back to the flight map immediately. DL967 - Delta Air Lines DL 967 Flight Tracker Spears had been a close friend of her husband, and she had never considered him to be a good influence. Skycraft Air Transport Dubai to Toronto Flight - Ticket Price, Fare NATIONAL AIRLINES Careers and Employment 2023 | Indeed.com But where had he been? Two dozen books on hypnosis had been found in Spears's home in Dallas. The pilot planned to conduct solo aerobatic flight manoeuvres in the Taylor? 2910'N, and Long. National Air Security Operation Center (NASOC) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Locations: (to include but not limited to the following locations) Sierra Vista, AZ; San Angelo, TX . At 0005 the flight reported to Tampa company radio as over Crab at 0002 and estimated NL1, also a customary reporting point, at 0031, at 14,000feet. This position was determined by VOR bearings taken from 14,000feet altitude. Quickly purchase historical reports delivered via email. There have been dozens of plane crashes due to explosive decompression. The flight accepted the clearance and stated it would remain at 14,000feet a little longer. One part of the investigation focused on the passengers. 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 Flightpath. National Airlines Flight 967, registration 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. 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 He moved to California and took up hypnotism, his business was with a doctor performing abortions (which were then illegal in the U.S.). The inertia of the bodies was plainly downward and forward and the forces at impact were severe. From March16 through25,1960, the VITAL and the BITTERN continued searching in other areas and many botton contacts were obtained but none proved to be aircraft wreckage. In the postwar era, its fleet consisted of the: * Convair CV-340 - October 5, 1945, a Lockheed Lodestar crashed into a lake in Lakeland, Florida with two fatalities. The day before the fateful flight, Taylor had visited his ex-wife Alice Steel Taylor at her home, looking for their adult son Junior, who wasnt home. The main section of the wreckage has never been found despite the efforts of Navy and Coast Guard divers. She contacted his work--they knew nothing. Spear's activities in order to determine whether they might have had a bearing upon the accident. Flight 967 (1959) Flight 2511 (1960) Flight 27 (1973) Flight 193 (1978) Category. Flight hour logbooks will be required at time of your Flight Assessment for verification. Initially, there was some speculation based on the fact that a noted Chicago mobster--Ellis Itchy Mandel--was on the flight. "[citation needed]. National Airlines Flight 193, registration N4744, Donna, was a Boeing 727-235 en route from Miami, Florida to Pensacola on May 8, 1978. . . No operational or maintenance item was found which can reasonably be linked to this accident. The aircraft was a DC-7, N4891C, owned by Delta Air Lines and operated by National under an equipment interchange agreement. His wife would then cash in an insurance policy for $100,000 on Spears' life. Despite these strange details, Mrs Taylor stuck to her story--her ex-husband had been hypnotized. 1959 Chronology of Aviation History - Skytamer Intensive sea and air searches resulted in finding nine floating bodies and a small amount of floating debris the following morning. A reporter happened to be in her home at the time. The FBI had found Dr Spears through an ex-wife of Spearss associate Mr Turska. In this interview, he told a completely different story about what had happened.
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