Members of the party hunting in the shark-infested waters for bodies believe there was an explosion. 02:55. Planes, especially larger passenger ones, were still fairly new back then-- they were still figuring out the kinks. Life Magazine. All 42occupants, 36passengers and 6crew members, were killed. Science Earth Science Question 5 Should national parks be preserved? It was founded in 1934 as a Florida-based airline. As Logan points out, in the first three weeks of 1960 alone there had been four major airline crashes. Nothing. Everyone loved the read as the comments here suggest and so did I but does anyone have a theory they favor? There injuries indicated that all nine persons had been seated at the time the aircraft struck the water. FlightAware provides accurate real-time, historical and predictive flight insights to all segments of the - February 11, 1952, a DC-6 crashed near Newark Airport, killing 29 out of 63 people on board. Photographs depicted Dr Spears as a plump, jovial man--in a checkered suit and round spectacles, he embodied the image of a kindly family physician. Turska? The line between the airports does. The aircraft was a DC-7, N 4891C, owned by Delta Air Lines and operated by National under an equipment interchange agreement. The bodies were stripped of clothing and revealed severe burns, he said. Start your trial now! The Coastguardsman on duty saw an unusual light in the sky at an angle which he estimated as about 15 degrees above the horizontal and in the general direction of where N4891C was lost and at about the time it was lost. You received a Purple Heart on or after September 11, 2001, and were honorably discharged after any amount of service, or. * Lockheed Super H Constellation In the postwar era, its fleet consisted of the: * Convair CV-340 Without the planes black box, it is impossible to rule this out. We deliver industry-leading performance in safety, clinical quality, and patient advocacy, committing to zero balance bills. He felt he had been a burden and it was a chance to free us of that burden.. The radar observer testified that this disappearance was characteristic of a target going below the scope's limits. 04:35. National Airlines Flight 967 of November 15, 1959, was scheduled between Miami, Florida, and New Orleans, Louisiana, with a stop at Tampa, Florida. OP, thank you for your work on this, especially noting the numerous sources you cited. The mafia? After not hearing from Taylor for a few days, and discovering he had not showed up for work, Alice became worried. Just in case you have yet to hear about it, I recommend you check out r/AdmiralCloudberg since you love aviation mysteries. Streaming flight data feed for enterprise integrations with real-time, historical and predictive flight data. Search and rescue aircraft spotted scattered debris and a number of bodies in the vicinity of the last radar return, about 35 miles east of Pilottown, Louisiana; the remains of 10 individuals were eventually located. 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. Several months later, on November 7, 1960, a commercial organization was engaged to conduct a one-month search using techniques proven effective in prospecting for underwater oil structures. PROBABLE CAUSE: "Because of the lack of physical evidence, the probable cause of this accident is unknown. Although sabotage was suspected, no definite cause of the crash was determined . 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. 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. Fri, 26 May 23. The aircraft was then spiralled over the spot down to an altitude of 500feet through a stratus deck with a base of approximately 800 feet, and tops of 1,200 to 1,400feet. Probably one of the most intriguing cases Ive read here, what a great write up OP! Lieut. 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. But two Air Force fliers who spent four hours over the scene said because the wreckage was so scattered it seemed to them the plane exploded in the air. Associate Procurement Agent. Then he abruptly told her was headed to Atlanta the next day, to look for a job there. What an intriguing case - how have I never heard of this before? 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 company posted $1.027 billion in membership fee income compared to $967 million a year earlier, a $60 million increase, or 6.2%. Join to view profile. 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. Coast Guard vessels suggested searching an area some distance to the southwest of the position 2913'N, 8840'W. * Douglas DC-6 He said he had persuaded Al Taylor to take the dynamite on the airplane by promising to pay him $10,000 to do it. He did not log the incident. Aviation accidents and incidents in 1978 () Jan 1 Air India Flight 855; Braniff International Airways Flight 542, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, registration N9705C, was a scheduled domestic flight from Houston, Texas, bound for New York with scheduled stops in Dallas and Washington, D.C. On September 29, 1959, 23 minutes into the 41-minute flight from Houston to Dallas Love Field, the aircraft disintegrated in mid-air approximately 3.8 miles (6.1 km) southeast of . The personal effects consisted of shoes, clothing, parts of leather suitcases and other traveling paraphernalia. You can easily find cheap flights / LCC plane tickets from Lloydminster Airport in Lloydminster to Columbia. He had become financially successful in Texas as a . [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. None of these nine persons had been subjected to fire or smoke before death, as demonstrated by low carboxyhemoglobin levels in blood and tissue. Though he was legally dead, many had begun to doubt that Taylor was ever on that flight at all. In the weeks after the crash, the mystery of Flight 967 deepened. 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". Get the FlightAware App for the best flight tracking experience on your device. 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. See if your flight has been delayed or cancelled and track the live position on a map. Hudson is an Equal Opportunity Employer of all qualified individuals. At 00:55 the aircraft suddenly crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. He had "an uncanny ability to move on at a moment's notice". This position was buoyed and two dives were made in depths of 210 feet. Comprehensive flight tracking to enhance your FBO operations and increase sales. However, there was ample fuel to have proceeded to the flight's planned alternate or to Dallas, the next en route stop. BITTERN searched separate areas using Navy sonar. This material totaled possibly less than one percent of all such material within the fuselage. Best write up Ive ever read. He heard no noise. ASSURANCE and the U.S.S. Meanwhile she campaigned in the courts to have him declared legally dead (which would give her son access to the life insurance money). As for the insurance policy taken out by Taylor, Spears said: Taylor was sort of a nut on insurance. . This indicated to him that the explosion took place after the plane hit the water. 0 bags. I believe him lost in the crash.". When Spears met secretly with his wife on January 7, he had reportedly given her the same story. Forty-two people were on board, and less than 1% of the wreckage was recovered. - January 6, 1960, a DC-6B en route from New York to Miami was destroyed by a bomb near Bolivia, North Carolina, killing all 34 on board. That was before Spears was found in Arizona with Taylors car. Headwinds of about 15 to 20knots at the filed flight altitude of 14,000feet were forecast. 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. While circling in this general area, several bodies were sighted as well as one liferaft that had been broken out of its case but was not inflated and appeared to be about three-fourths submerged. The flight accepted the clearance and stated it would remain at 14,000feet a little longer. Unfortunately, these searches were not successful. Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Although sabotage was suspected, no definite cause of the crash was determined. No seat belt abrasions were found. The ultimate flight tracking suite for small aircraft/general aviation (GA) owners and operators. In a second interview, however, Turska told a different story. I am not a shill but it is an interesting book.]. His testimony indicates that the light was red or dark red, appearing suddenly, lasting a "couple of seconds," and then producing a vertical, white light which fell with a white trail. Mrs Spears? I don't think Dr. Spears nor Taylor planned it/caused it, but Spears decided to take advantage of it after hearing what had happened. The FBI discovered there was much more to the kindly old Dr Spears than met the eye. Robert Vernon Spears, of Dallas, Texas, was listed as a passenger on Flight967. According to Logans book, Mrs Taylor was media savvy, and exaggerated her closeness with Taylor before his disappearance. She ultimately succeeded, and her son Junior received an undisclosed settlement. The flight's next radio contact was with FAA Pensacola radio at 0031 requesting clearance to New Orleans and reestimating NL1 at 0035. Don't have an account? The other plane crash remains unexplained despite the apparent presence of dynamite and that it happened over land where, presumably, most or all of the wreckage was recovered. Select the responses you agree with. It's possible it was not a direct flight, and the next leg would have been from NO to Dallas. 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. * Boeing 747-135 His wife would then cash in an insurance policy for $100,000 on Spears' life. There have been dozens of plane crashes due to explosive decompression. Nearby radar stations reported "the flight was very close to being on course and on schedule.'' Predictive technology to strengthen customer trust in your operations. None of these nine persons had been subjected to fire or smoke before death, as demonstrated by low carboxyhemoglobin levels in blood and tissue. [] for all those decades and all the different things they got up to. There was nothing immediately remarkable about Dr Spears. No seat belt abrasions were found. Grapples were used and a variety of objects were recovered but none could be related to the aircraft. He moved to California and took up hypnotism, his business was with a doctor performing abortions (which were then illegal in the U.S.). By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. On November 16, 1959, an airplane vanished over the Gulf of Mexico, with 42 people onboard. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Except for the land areas and coastal waters from Mobile westward, skies were virtually clear and visibility excellent. National Airlines Flight 193, registration N4744, Donna, was a Boeing 727-235 en route from Miami, Florida to Pensacola on May 8, 1978. . 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. Track planes in real-time on our flight tracker map and get up-to-date flight status & airport information. No operational or maintenance item was found which can reasonably be linked to this accident. Track National Aeronautics and Space Administration #967 flight from Chennault Intl to Houston Ellington Flugstatus, Tracking und Flugverlaufsdaten fr National Aeronautics and Space Administration 967 (NASA967) 02.03.2023 (KCWF-KEFD) mit geplanten, geschtzten und tatschlichen Start- und Landezeiten St. Petersburg Times. Departure from Tampa, with the same crew, was at 2332. She also said she had begged him to turn himself in but he refused. She put it bluntly to the Dallas Morning News: "I believe that Spears hypnotized [Taylor] into doing it.". A strong sharp contact, definitely bottom and metallic, was made at position 2911.6'N, 8838.2'W at a depth of 245feet. If the plane had any larger parts recoverable, they might have been able to tell if dynamite was the cause by examining residues or scorch marks. They had been divorced longer than she claimed, and the divorce had been far from amicable. Delta Air Lines was scheduled to operate the flight between New Orleans, and its next stop, Dallas, TX, where American Airlines was to take over and operate the same aircraft from Dallas nonstop to Los Angeles. Interchange flights like this were fairly common before the CAB awarded more direct routes beginning with the Southeast to West Coast case in 1961. Taylor's body was not among those recovered. Flight status, tracking, and historical data for American Airlines 967 (AA967/AAL967) including scheduled, estimated, and actual departure and arrival times. 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.. Find cheap flights from Kathmandu to Yosemite National Park. The crew consisted of Captain William R. Broocke (age 54), employed by National Airlines since 1946, who had qualified to fly the DC-10 in 1972 and accumulated 21,853 flight hours in his career with 801 hours on the DC-10; First Officer Edward H. Saunders (33), employed by National Airlines since 1965, with 7,086 flight hours of which 445 hours were on the DC-10; and Flight . This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. 2910'N, and Long. Spears." Such a bummer. 967 (NASA967) 01-Mar-2023 (KEFD . She contacted his work--they knew nothing. 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. She called Spearss wife (who was still grieving at that time) and asked if she had seen or heard from Taylor. 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. Frank was covered by $900,000 in life insurance policies at the time of his death, and had also been under investigation for corruption. But they don't agree on when it occurred. Intensive sea and air searches resulted in finding nine floating bodies and a small amount of floating debris the following morning. Round-trip. 8839'W. He reported a "smooth flight" and unlimited visibility, but said he could see a solid overcast of fog ahead. The industry standard flight tracking platform for business aviation (BA) owners and operators. - 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. I've never heard of this and I love aviation mysteries. 16cm . Massey. The Coast Guard favored the former explanation, while the Air Force favored the latter. During this time, Spears had briefly visited his wife (on January 7)--so her answers in her first interview were a lie. 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". 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. "I asked him if anything had been done to plane and he said no". [1][2][3] In February 1960, Spears was convicted of interstate transportation of a stolen car (Taylor's Plymouth). 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. Clearly in shock, she turned to the reporter and said: "What can I say? 2913'N, Long. Our global headquarters is situated in Orlando FL, with several operational hubs across the globe in Buffalo NY, Chicago IL, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Madrid, Dubai, Djibouti, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Many sonar contacts were obtained by both ships but all were evaluated as marine life. In this case, the plane likely suffered the same fate. VIGOR searched, using Navy sonar. The passenger manifest for Tampa-New Orleans listed 36passengers. Spears disappeared after the accident but was arrested in Phoenix, Arizona, with Taylor's car in January, 1960. 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. 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. Al Taylor asked him to drive the Plymouth to Dallas where they were scheduled to meet up. Search and rescue facilities were activated and the Coast Guard had search aircraft and surface craft in the suspect area before daylight. The main wreckage has not been located despite several well planned searches. Investigation failed to reveal any item of maintenance of either the aircraft or its powerplants which could be significantly related to the accident. Fri, 26 May 23. . Spears had a long history of crime, having been arrested 17 times under 14 different aliases. Robert Vernon Spears, a nationally known naturopathic doctor from . 46 people perished. The second radar station at Houma, Louisiana, picked up the flight at 0046, on track and at 14,000feet altitude. National Airlines Flight 967, a DC-7B on a flight from Tampa, Florida to New Orleans, crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. Summary 185 Max talks about columnist Martha Lunken's flight under a bridge, which led to the revocation of her certificates. 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. It was determined that Taylor had boarded the flight using a ticket issued for Spears. Investigators were divided on whether the aircraft broke apart on impact with the water, or exploded in the air before it went down. saw an unusual light in the sky [] in the general direction of where [the flight] was lost and at about the time it was lost [] the light was red or dark red, appearing suddenly, lasting a couple of seconds then producing a vertical white light which fell with a white trail [] the initial red flash was almost as big as the sun. 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. We have been unable to find any such relationship. She had never liked Spears. I wonder how long it took the police to find out about all these shady characters. Spears immediately said he had made the whole thing up after the reporter had pressured him to tell him something new. The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by: National Airlines Flight 967 took off from Tampa (TPA) at 23:32 for a flight to New Orleans (MSY) at FL140. It may be possible that the stop was in Dallas during the time of the crash. * Douglas DC-6B 18cm Wingspan approx. A careful search was made for witnesses. Flight status, tracking, and historical data for National Aeronautics and Space Administration 967 (NASA967) 01-Mar-2023 (KEFD-KVCT) including scheduled, estimated, and actual departure and arrival times. Las Vegas, Nevada, United States333 followers 331 connections. The FBI had found Dr Spears through an ex-wife of Spearss associate Mr Turska. 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? On January 6, 1960 (less than two months after Flight 967) Frank was on board a National Airlines flight which was blown up by dynamite over North Carolina, resulting in 34 deaths. This is evident by the lack of any unusual radio messages. Air Methods. He was arrested for assault and battery for his wife in 1971. 967. 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. That's where the stories of him driving and Taylor flying, Taylor needing to carry the dynamite, and Taylor accidentally or purposefully igniting it all come from just stories from a guy who was trying not to get accidentally blamed from a plane crash he didn't plan or commit. In spite of this string of suspicious details, the airplane was still missing, therefore there was no hope of charging Spears with anything relating to the crash. (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. A check by the company at this time showed that FAA, New Orleans Approach Control, and ARTC were also out of contact with Flight967. I told him it wouldn't work!". (If any were available prior to my introduction to flying, though, I can't be sure.) D.B. A bomb was suspected. Goodness, I'm on the wrong plane!" Repeated calls to it, starting at 0106 on company frequency, were not answered. Before the crash, Spears had briefly sought advice on his pending abortion case from a New York City lawyer named Julian Frank. February 1, 1960 LINK. 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. EVERETT ENGERSOL, Evergreen Park, Illinois, PEDRO MARCO, arrived in Miami from Havana, A. VINAS, Havana and Loma Linda, California, The REV. The BITTERN obtained four separate bottom contacts at Lat. Over the course of their long friendship, Spears and Taylor had worked together on confidence schemes throughout the USA. The combination of the auto theft charge and his existing abortion charge eventually got him ten years in prison. 1. I was completely drawn in. National Airlines Flight 967; He also had convictions for drunk driving and drug possession. For weeks Dr Spears was mourned along with the rest of the victims. Flight crew []. Throughout this observation the radar scope indicated no other object. At its height, National Airlines had a network of "Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast" flights, linking Florida and the Gulf Coast with cities along the East Coast and large . I think the plane crashing was more or less a red herring in this case. He needed to get the dynamite from Tulsa to Dallas. 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. 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 . Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. 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. An oil slick estimated to be a mile long and possibly 400yards in width ran in a north-south direction. She later said she had a premonition that her husband had been on that flight, and she never wavered from it. According to Alan C. Logans book, Taylor had also met with Frank in New York (though Logan does not explain why). Did you know that FlightAware flight tracking is supported by advertising? National Airlines Flight 967 Part 01.PDF PDF document, 25,417 kB (26,027,901 bytes) 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. 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. He planned to intimidate the witness in that case somehow with a bomb (not to kill her but to intimidate her). DC-7 [] Template . I want to mention one thing; you are a class act for the ending. 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? All employment decisions are made without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, disability, military leave or veteran status, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law. 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. We have been unable to find any such relationship. Sun 4/2. This consisted of fragmented bits of upholstery, soundproofing material, cabin linings, scat cushions and backs, metallic parts of seats attached to and buoyed by these cushions and backs, overhead racks and other light items not essential to the structural integrity of the aircraft.