|
|
||
|
|
TRAGEDY AT TRI-CITY: The Easter Sunday Plane Crash of 1958 By Mark R. Leffler "Pain is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world." - C. S. Lewis "On Easter Sunday, 1958, 47 people lost their lives in a totally unexpected plane crash. This is the story of those 47 victims. And it is the story of the aftermath of that day. But most importantly, it is a story of hope, victory and encouragement." - William Reid Cover copy from "Echoes of Flight 67" Certain tragic events become landmarks in our lives. Catastrophic tragedies stand out like a bloody sore thumb, hitchhiking on the road of life. The Kennedy Assassination. The murder of Dr. Martin Luther King. John Lennon's death. The Challenger explosion. Selena. The Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Add to that sad list that mixes memory and grief the crash of Capitol Airlines flight #67. On Sunday, April 6, 1958 the Viscount airliner piloted by Captain William Hull was attempting to land at what was then known as Tri-City airport. Flight 67 was a flight that originated in Washington D.C., flew on to Cleveland and then returned to New York. It turned back to fly to Detroit and then on to Flint and Saginaw. The weather was miserable: cold, windy and snowy, and the plane was more than an hour delayed. It slammed into the muddy farm fields about a mile from the airport. Horrified friends and family waiting for loved ones watched in horror as a fireball exploded in the distance. The story of Flight 67 is recounted in "Echoes of Flight 67" by Bay City author and aviation enthusiast William Reid. His meticulously researched and thoughtfully presented prose examine the probable causes of the accident and tell the stories of the passengers and crew who lost their lives on the day Christians celebrate the rebirth of their Lord. It also contains the stories of passengers who intended to be on the flight, but for various reasons, were not onboard. Reid first published his research as a pamphlet, "Tragedy at Tri-City" early in 1999, with the proceeds benefiting the Bay City Players Building Renovation fund (he has been active with the theatre group for years). After enthusiastic comments from readers, some of whom placed him in contact with family members of passengers who had died in the crash, Reid decided to publish an expanded version as a slim trade paperback. Most copies of "Echoes of Flight 67: The rest of the story" have been sold, but a few copies remain and are available by contacting Reid. He also does speaking engagements and book signings. His book is dedicated to Tilde Norberg and Evelyn Agascar, the daughters of Louise and Lawrence Norberg, a husband and wife who were onboard Flight 67. The couple was returning from a trip to New York City, winners of the Del Monte Food Company contest, which asked contestants to describe a Del Monte upside-down cake. They had won a stay at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, tickets to one of the hottest Broadway shows of the time, "My Fair Lady" and $100 in spending money (keep in mind, those are 1958 dollars, when gas was under 30 cents a gallon). Tilda, 16, and Evelyn, 13, were waiting at the airport with their aunt, Louise's sister, Mrs. Virginia Singleton, when the plane went down. Within six months of the crash the girls were taken in and eventually adopted by their minister's family in Saginaw. The insurance policy from the Del Monte Company provided a sum of money that was placed in a trust for living expenses and eventually college. Tilda was a violin major at Michigan State and graduated in 1963. In 1967 she attended Union Theological Seminary in Manhattan, eventually becoming an ordained United Methodist Minister, specializing in gestalt healing ministry. Her younger sister Evelyn graduated from Michigan State also, receiving her teaching BA She also has a Masters degree in counseling from California State. Both later married and had children. Following the publication of the "Tragedy at Tri-City" pamphlet Reid was able to make contact with Tilde and his visit and interview with her formed the core of the follow up book that was published by High Flight Publications the following year. In addition to telling the story of the passengers and crew, Reid was intent on discovering the cause of the accident and clearing the name of the pilot. Using documentation received from government aviation agencies and drawing on a lifetime of interest in aviation, he proposes his own conclusions that mechanical error and not pilot error, was the primary cause. Also included is a list of all the passengers and crew members and a brief bio of each. A chronology for Capital Airlines, 1928-1961, a glossary of terms, and a thorough bibliography. There is even a copy of the Civil Aeronautics Board's Revised Aircraft Accident Report. It contains the original report of April 5, 1959 as well as the revised report released on Feb. 17th 1965. The following interview is condensed from "BOOKMARKS", seen on Delta College Quality Public Television, 19 & 35) Mark R. Leffler: Explain to people who aren't familiar with the Easter 1958 Tri-City plane crash exactly what that was. William Reid: All my life I've been an enthusiast of aviation. From the time I was a little boy. And in 1956 when the Viscount airplane debuted at Tri-City airport I was there that day. This plane crashed on Easter Sunday. April 6th 1958. It was coming in from New York. It had stopped in Detroit and Flint and over lower southern Michigan there was a bad low pressure area and the temperature was around 34-35 degrees so they encountered a lot of ice and freezing rain. The airplane, as it came into Tri-City airport, as it was known then, circled around to the north and to the west, into the landing pattern and then circled around to make the final approach. And about half a mile from the end of the runway, the airplane suddenly nosed over and dived into the ground. The CAB (Civil Aeronautics Board) said that the aircraft had stalled. They said that the airplane had gone into a stall on the tight turn on the final approach and made a spin. So I got that original report that was issued in 1959. And then I also got the amended report. MRL: How old would you have been at the time? WR: I was about ten years old when that happened. MRL: And when did you start looking into this? WR: Probably in the early 60ís when I sent for that first report. And you can do that. You can write to the government, they'll send you just about anything. I disagreed with the report, because it was ambiguous. They give you the "probable cause", which doesn't necessarily mean that is what really happened, but what they think happened. And I disputed that in this case because the pilot, Captain Hull was a very experienced pilot. And he had been in and out of Tri-City numerous times and I believed, as an experienced pilot, he would not have let this plane go into a stall - certainly not on final approach. MRL: Almost everyone I've talked with about the crash has a personal story about it. What is one of the stories of the people who were on board? WR: Well, that night at the airport there were these two teenage girls from Saginaw. Tilda and Evelyn Norberg. And they were waiting for their parents. The parent had a won a trip to New York City and they had left on Good Friday and were coming back on Easter Sunday. And of course the parents were killed. When the accident happened, one of the people working on the ramp ran into the terminal building and started yelling "The flight is down, the flight is down!" and of course this caused all kinds of panic and chaos. So among those people that ran out on the ramp, which is something you can't do now, the FAA won't let you do that, were the two teenagers, and they could look down the runway and see the explosion and the fire. And Tilda, the older of the two, came back in and said that as she stood there everything turned white in front of her and she turned to look from side to side and then turned around and came face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Tilda and her family were members of (Saginaw's) State Street Methodist Church and very faithful people to their religious beliefs. So I believe it was no accident that that happened. And I do believe that it is true in fact. Today, and this is kind of the crux of my book, she is an ordained minister in Staten Island, New York and she has a healing ministry where she helps people who have suffered similar traumatic events. MRL: How did you decide to write this book? WR: Around November of 1997 I saw mention of this accident in the paper and they said that it was "pilot error". I disagreed with that tremendously. MRL: Based on what? WR: I had pilot experience...very limited...about 120 hours in small planes... and this pilot had 16,000 hours of flight experience. And a person with that much experience just doesn't make those kinds of mistakes. And the CAB report more of less pinned the blame on him for letting this airplane get into a stall on the turn and that wasn't the case. MRL: The CAB just said that the pilot made a mistake and that's why the plane went down? WR: Well, they implied that. They didn't really say that, they implied that. There were other factors that went with it, which was the weather and so forth. So consequently in researching this I found some other information that I believe was critical and was not even considered in the final report. MRL: How much of the book is the story of the passengers and how much is your detective work trying to figure out what really happened? WR: Well, the first part is the story of the people and how they were involved, the weather and all that kind of stuff. The second chapter, the longest chapter, is about the accident investigation and why I disagree with it. MRL: What all have you collected over the years having to do with this? WR: Well, I have one of the original little Viscount airplanes that they gave out at the airport. And it is now a collector's item. I have some bumper stickers and Capitol Airlines memorabilia. Not nearly as much as some collectors though. MRL: Do you run across a lot of people in aviation circles around here who know about this? WR: Frankly there is very little information about it. There are people who have grown up here in this area who know nothing about it. (Echoes of Flight 67 is distributed by High Flight Publications. For more information contact them at 1600 Prarie, Essexville, MI 48732-1446. (517) 893-2765.)
|
|
|
|
Enable frames | |
|
home | out/about | events | personal | store | classified | real estate | forums | archives | contact |
||
