November 3, 2008
The Ustica Massacre – Itavia Flt #870
On June 27, 1980, the Italian airliner left Bologna, Italy for Palermo at 8:08 pm with four crew members and 77 passengers. Messages retrieved from the cockpit voice recorder appeared normal early in the flight with good radio communications. Control tower monitoring was consistent until the plane was some 80 miles southwest of Naples when no further contact was made. Approximately one hour after departure, the DC-9 crashed and sank in the depths of the Tyrrhenian Sea near the small island of Ustica. Other than housing prisoners of the Fascists during the war, and criminals in the Mafia in the 1950’s, not much else was known about Ustica or its estimated 1300 inhabitants until this disaster.
A brief search and rescue attempt by two Italian Air Force jets was unsuccessful, poor visibility given as the reason. Years went by until 1987, when the Italian government reopened the investigation, which had produced few results up to then. From the recovery of the flight data recorder and most of the wreckage, their technician Luigi Di Stefano was able to reconstruct the aircraft. He also provided a photograph of the reconstruction, which clearly shows a gaping hole just behind the forward door and a matching one on the opposite side. This evidence added even more credence to the popular theory of a missile impact.
In 1989, Senator Pellegrino of the Parliamentary Commission on Terrorism issued an official statement of a terrorist attack in a deliberate act of war. This seemed logical, as Italy had been through a series of bombings in the 70’s, and the incident occurred just one month before the disastrous attack in the city of Bologna. Others also came to the same conclusion based on a report released later in 1994 stating that a bomb had been planted on Flt 870. Then too, there had been a delay of over 2 hours in the plane’s departure, which certainly would have been enough time to set an explosive device.
The investigation continued into the 1990’s, and in August 1996, a press release indicated that Italian government officials were in discussion with NATO, which leads us to wonder why NATO was so interested in the loss of a civilian aircraft. A representative for the victims’ families, Daria Bonfietti, insists that the disaster was purposely covered up by the Italian air force and the political regime at the time. In any event, the majority of the media agreed that the plane was inadvertently shot down by a missile.
Other explanations for the crash were investigated, which included the possibility of Italian, French, and US aircraft participating in a routine training exercise in the area. More disturbing reports by the media, however, suggested a conspiracy by NATO members, which included the US, France, and Italy, to bring down an aircraft carrying the Libyan leader Gadafi, although he denied being in the airspace at the time. Radar tracking reports released in 1997 showed at least 7 warplanes in the area at the time of Flight 870’s disappearance. The wreckage of a Libyan fighter jet, found in the Calabria region of southern Italy just 21 days after the crash, adds substance to these reports. It is possible that the Itavia airline came within the firing range of a missile intended for the Libyan plane. Most aviation experts agreed that the extensive damage to the airplane indicated a missile impact. In any event, there is no question that military aircraft were in the area for some purpose. Certainly, the civilian airline should have been alerted of their activities and perhaps been able to avoid the disaster that occurred.
Rumors of conspiracy continued for some time as more strange events added to the mystery. The French ship involved in the search had released the recovered parts of the aircraft, but only to the US, and important radar reports were removed from the investigation. Several prominent political figures, Itavia employees and pilots, and Italian Air Force pilots died unexpectedly; some committed suicide and others were apparently targeted by terrorists and unknown assailants. Was this a well-planned cover-up, and one about to be exposed? Although several Italian generals were later indicted for obstruction of justice, they were eventually cleared. Other more serious charges of treason were also dismissed in 2007; the obvious grave misconduct was apparently never punished, nor was the mystery solved.
In June of this year, 2008, the Italian government remained determined to pursue the matter and decided to reopen the case of Itavia Flt 870. Papers with a claim for damages were served to the French president in July 2008, whose warplanes they held responsible for downing the aircraft.
Accessible from Palermo by ferry service, the primary attraction on Ustica for tourists today is the pleasure of scuba diving in its natural sea preserve. Relatively few visitors will remember or attach much significance to the disaster of Itavia Flt 870. The Italian government, however, established a Museum for the Memory of Ustica in Bologna in June 2007. The reconstruction work of Luigi Di Stefano and objects recovered that belonged to the passengers are included in the exhibits. All the personal items are kept in a wooden box, covered with black plastic, and a book of photographs and pertinent information is available for visitors to the Museum. The exact number of people who died in the massacre is used throughout the impressive display with 81 large hanging lights and mirrors. Eighty-one loudspeakers add a dramatic, but somber, effect in various messages to visitors; e.g., “when I will arrive, I will go to the sea.”
(Note: Itavia Airline, a successful company in the 1960’s, ended its operations after the Ustica disaster.)
Sharon Slayton
October 23, 2008
Mysterious Cargo
South African Airways Flt #295 left the Taiwan Taoyuan Airport, then known as Chiang Kai Shek airport, on November 27, 1987, enroute to Johannesburg. The Boeing 747 Combi, the Helderberg, carried 140 passengers, 19 crewmembers, and six platforms of cargo on the same flight deck. The passenger list represented 11 different countries, with the majority from China, Japan, and South Africa. About 135 nautical miles from its first stop at Mauritius, the plane crashed in the Indian Ocean, leaving no survivors.
Search efforts were delayed for some 12 hours because of the hasty and inaccurate reporting of its location by a crew who were not prepared to handle the catastrophic fire that occurred onboard. Two ships from the South African Navy, two tugboats, and one ship from environmental affairs were sent to investigate the crash. The flight data recorder, if found, would have been virtually useless for pinpointing the location of the plane in the depths of the Indian Ocean at over 16,000 feet. After a two-month search over a vast area, a deep ocean recovery team was brought in from the U.S. to go beyond the sonar exploration. Three separate areas of debris were recovered well north of the probable location of the crash, and at some distance from each other, which seemed to indicate that the plane had fallen apart before impact
Eight bodies were recovered from the surface, and strangely enough, three wristwatches were found in the baggage; two were still running, and one had stopped. Luckily, investigators were able to determine the approximate time of the crash from this watch, a mere 3 minutes after the plane’s last communication with air traffic control. Blood samples from these victims were analyzed and found to have soot present in the respiratory tract, but no other real evidence of any type of explosive device was discovered. Customs officials in Taiwan had found nothing in their investigation of the cargo before departure.
The media was quick to exploit theories of terrorism and conspiracy on the part of the government of South Africa, which served to arouse the public and add to the international uproar that circled the globe. Not only did the government own the airline, but also the incident took place during the cruel and dangerous times of the apartheid regime. Some reports suggested that the government was smuggling in weapons on civilian aircraft to be used in their ongoing fight against Angola.
Although rare on this type of plane, the question that a major fire had occurred was never in doubt, but the cause of the fire and the contents of the cargo were a mystery. Everything from fireworks to the highly controversial red mercury, better known as plutonium or uranium, in the cargo was mentioned. Whether the government was importing this for weaponry, we can’t say, as no proof was established that this type of dangerous cargo was even onboard.
Standard procedure was followed and a commission was appointed to investigate. The presiding judge, Cecil Margo, was thought to be highly experienced in such investigations as a pilot and having led many such inquiries on the Board of Inquiry. The transcript from the cockpit voice recording was dismissed as invalid, although its significance may have been intentionally or accidentally overlooked. It is thought that the captain, who had been reluctant to fly the aircraft, may have alerted the crew of the dangerous cargo onboard – explosives. If this was the case, the crew was obviously inexperienced in handling this type of cargo. Unfortunately, the Margo Commission arrived at no satisfactory conclusion at the end of its investigation.
The mystery did not end there, however, and the case was brought to the attention of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) in 1996, dedicated to investigating the many atrocities committed by the former Nationalist Party of South Africa. Numerous discrepancies were found in the Margo Commission inquiry and witnesses were interviewed, but much of the necessary information was not available, ignored, or lost. Dr David Katzlow, a forensic expert, stated that the fire was not caused by the obvious things such as wood, cardboard, or plastic, negating the idea of computer packaging or other types of cargo igniting. He went on to suggest that the plane might have been carrying a new type of rocket. A former agent of the FBI provided his interpretation of the words on the voice recorder that stated there was a bomb onboard. This too was quickly pushed aside by the Civil Aviation Agency, as being no more than just undecipherable noise on the tape. The TRC concluded in 1998 that nothing on the cargo list, if accurate, could have caused the explosion. A special investigative unit, the Scorpions, was also ineffective in its investigation of the incident. No further inquiry was carried out, for one reason or another, perhaps because of financial limitations.
But, freight is one thing, and explosives are another. Some time later, comments by a retired South African Airlines employee definitely pointed to a conspiracy. In his words “we murdered the people aboard the Helderberg,” by carrying weapons and explosives as cargo, but listed as agricultural products, on this and other routes at the time including London, Frankfurt, and Lisbon.
Boeing conducted various simulated fire tests, but the only conclusion drawn from these was that there was probably inadequate protection for the passengers from the cargo. The manufacturer also agreed that more than likely the fire regulations were insufficient, a weak argument at best, and proved nothing about the cause of the fire. (Note: Subsequently, fire and safety regulations and cargo handling procedures were improved, and the FAA imposed new standards. As a result, the use of the Combi aircraft was deemed no longer practical, and it was eventually discontinued.)
What was lacking in 1987, and is even more important today, is the fact that cargo investigation and control must continue to receive top priority. This, and many other disasters, might have somehow been prevented. No one person, group, or country was ever held accountable, however, and as is often the case, no specific cause for the disaster could be determined. The case was considered officially closed in 2002 by the South African Board of Transport, leaving us with one more unresolved travel mystery.
Sharon Slayton
October 13, 2008
SS Waratah – The Other Titanic
Three years before the tragic sinking of the Titanic, another ship went down with all hands lost. This time, however, there was no iceberg, and no explanation for its disappearance. The 500-foot liner was the pride of Scotland, named after the flower of New South Wales, Australia. Designed to carry passengers and cargo, there were 100 first class cabins, 8 staterooms, and luxurious lounges. In addition to its first class passengers, the Waratah also carried emigrants from Europe to Australia in steerage dormitory-like quarters, capable of housing 700 or more of these lower paying passengers. Although the ship could transport refrigerated cargo and had a large desalination plant onboard, it had no radio or telegraph communications, typical of the times.
After an uneventful journey that began on April 27 from London to Australia, the Waratah left Melbourne on the return trip to London on July 1, 1909. The ship reached Durban, Australia and departed on July 26,1909 for Cape Town, South Africa. One passenger, Claude Sawyer, debarked at Durban after wiring his wife that the ship was top heavy and he was suffering from nightmares. On July 27, the ship exchanged signals with the Clan McIntyre, the last verifiable sighting of its location. One day later, two more sightings of the Waratah were recounted, but thirty-foot waves and 50-knot winds had made visibility poor. The Guelph, a passing ship, received light signals, commonly used instead of radio communications, but could only identify the last 3 letters t – a – h.
That same evening, the Harlow detected a ship, possibly the Waratah, following behind her from about 10 to 12 miles away. Two lights flashed in the darkness, but the captain and the first mate of the Harlow assumed these were simply brush fires onshore, a usual occurrence, and paid no particular attention. This sighting was not recorded in the ship’s log, and it is doubtful that the Waratah had somehow reversed her course back to Durban. The exact location of the sinking SS Waratah is unknown, although a policeman on horseback patrolling the east coast of South Africa, the Transkei area, may have been an actual eyewitness. In any event, for whatever reason, the ship did not arrive at Cape Town as expected on July 29.
Turbulent weather off the Cape hampered the search efforts of three ships from the Royal Navy. A possible sighting of the Waratah was announced in the Australian Parliament and people in Adelaide were elated, but this news was short lived; it was not the Waratah. It is now September and the ship’s owners have charted the Sabine to resume the search, which covered over 14,000 miles. Still nothing! Relatives of passengers on the Waratah also chartered their own ship, the Wakefield, but its 3-month search found no evidence of the ship or the 211 passengers and crew.
Since there were no survivors, the Board of Trade had to rely on testimony from passengers, builders, and crew from the ship’s maiden voyage in November 1908. All agreed that it was well built and in excellent condition, further verified by Lloyds of London who gave it an A1 rating. One witness stated that the ship did seem to have a problem with maintaining equilibrium in heavy seas, but former crew members and passengers disagreed with this theory. There was some speculation that inspections were not thorough enough, and seemed to concentrate more upon the design and detail of the cabins and public rooms, rather than its overall seaworthiness. The formal inquiry did conclude that the supposed sightings by the Guelph and the Harlow were questionable. Based upon its location on July 27, these could not have occurred at the same time.
Many more sightings were rumored including one by a pilot from the South African Air Force in 1925, one in 1929 by a soldier onshore, and again, by a Cessna pilot flying over the area in 1962 who reported seeing a passenger ship lying beneath the surface of the ocean. But, whether any of these reports were fantasies or realities is not known.
In 1977, Emlyn Brown and his diving team discovered a wreck off the Xora River. At first it was thought to be the Waratah, but later determined that it was too far north of its approximate location. In all probability, it was a ship destroyed by German U-boats in WWII. More recent attempts to find the Waratah were made in 1991, 1995, and 1997. A discovery in 1999 turned out to be another transport ship sunk during the war.
Other theories arose about the extreme weather conditions and a possible rogue wave, which frequently occur (as recent as August of this year) in deep water off the coast of Africa. Resulting from high winds and strong currents, these waves are unpredictable and might well have been the cause of the disappearance of the Waratah. A few people have suggested that the ship was swept as far south as Antarctica, having lost its rudder in the turbulence, but no evidence exists to prove or disprove this theory.
The suggestion of a whirlpool has little substance, as it is doubtful that any whirlpool would have been powerful enough to completely submerge a ship of this size. Neither is the possibility of an explosion of coal dust a valid one. Again, there would have been some wreckage, and some indication of lifeboats being launched. Then too, there are the believers in the paranormal including the passenger Sawyer who claimed to have had visions of a man with a sword covered in blood on three occasions, and decided to leave the ship in Durban. It has been mentioned too that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, famed mystery writer, held a séance in hopes of locating the Waratah.
The mysterious disappearance of the SS Waratah has attracted divers and expeditions for over 95 years. Perhaps, the most notable of these is millionaire Clive Cussler, well-known author of Raise The Titanic, and other adventure novels. As a marine archaeologist and founder of the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), Cussler, Brown, and Dr Peter Ramsey, a geoscientist, have led at least nine diving expeditions to find the Waratah since 1983. Paid for once again by Cussler, a group of 16 led by Brown planned an expedition in 2004 to explore the Xora and Bashee rivers off the Transkei coast. (Note: This writer could find no further information on the results of this venture.)
Was the ship overloaded on its return trip with a diverse 6500 tons of cargo including food supplies and an additional 1,000 tons of lead concentrate? Did it capsize in stormy weather as a result of instability? Were the ballast requirements accurately determined to take into consideration this added weight? These are all credible answers to the mystery, but until evidence is found that the SS Waratah lies somewhere on the bottom of the ocean, then we are left to draw our own conclusions to the mystery of the other Titanic.
(Note: The ship’s owners, the Blue Anchor Line, was forced into liquidation in 1910 after ticket sales dropped, and the lack of adequate insurance did not compensate for the huge financial losses.)
Sharon Slayton
October 3, 2008
Disappearing Ships – Cape Hatteras & The Atlantic Coast
Most of us are familiar with the unexplained disappearances of aircraft and ships in the Bermuda Triangle, but there is another fascinating story of two ships lost off Cape Hatteras in 1921. Hurricanes and storms have always been prevalent in this area, and the Cape serves as a navigational point about 25 miles off the North Carolina coast for ships sailing the Atlantic Ocean.
The Hewitt, originally named the Pacific, was one of two ships owned by the Union Sulphur Company. Its twin, named the Atlantic, was torpedoed in 1917, an interesting omen in itself. The Hewitt left Sabine, Texas on January 20th enroute to Portland, Maine, and radioed in her location somewhere off the coast of Georgia on the 25th of January. A 5-mast wooden schooner, the Carroll A. Deering, was traveling the same northern route, returning to its homeport of Bath, Maine. It is believed that both ships encountered turbulent weather near the Cape, and somehow, the Deering ran aground on Diamond Shoals, with sails full set, on January 31. This may not have been an unusual occurrence in the midst of a storm, but it is here that the mystery begins.
Coast Guard boats and rescuers, unable to reach the ship until February 4th when the storm abated, found a strange scene onboard. It appeared that some sort of mutiny might have taken place, as some personal belongings were missing, as well as navigational charts and instruments. The handwriting in the ship’s chart appeared to be different from that of the captain’s at the beginning of the journey. The lifeboats were also gone, which indicated a possible planned escape from the schooner. Further investigation of the ship’s papers revealed that that there had been a confrontation between the first mate and the captain after leaving Barbados. The lighthouse keeper at Cape Lookout, NC recalled a message from the Deering on January 29th saying that the ship had lost its anchor near Cape Fear and to alert the ship’s owner of their location. This seemed odd to him, as the group of men sending the message did not appear to be officers, and ordinarily, such a group would not be assembled on the quarterdeck. To add to the mystery, a passing ship heading south at the same time did not respond to his radio signal and appeared to have no name or identification.
Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, the hull of the Deering was dynamited, supposedly to prevent it from becoming a navigational hazard, and more evidence was lost. We don’t know if the Hewitt had rescued any of the Deering survivors - there were no radio communications to that effect, as might be expected. Further search on shore and at sea revealed nothing of the 11 crewmen from the Deering.
About 2 a.m., on February 1, a strange light was seen from the Absecon Lighthouse at Atlantic City, and as far as 20 miles up the coast. The Coast Guard quickly dispatched patrol boats to the area thinking there might have been an explosion on a ship, possibly the Hewitt. It was possible that the cargo of sulphur, not generally considered hazardous, had ignited and caused the explosion. However, the Hewitt had regularly carried cargoes of sulphur to chemical and ammunition industries for use during the war without incident. The location raised another question too, as the distance traveled from their last radio contact would probably not correlate with the ship being in this spot at the time. A seaplane also explored a 30-mile area from 5,000 feet and detected no sign of debris or other evidence of a missing ship, nor were any radio messages received from a ship in distress. A more plausible explanation might be that mines planted in the Atlantic Ocean before 1921 caused an explosion, and like the Atlantic, it too became another casualty of war.
More rumors circulated and speculation arose, as interest in the disappearance of the two ships increased. The media including the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times were quick to offer their own opinions. The Times attributed the disappearances to either piracy or a deliberate attempt by the Soviets to confiscate another U.S. ship, a common practice at the time. Russia was a known enemy, and piracy had been a part of history for years and still is; both were certainly a consideration. Lloyds of London disagreed, however, stating these disappearances were not an unusual occurrence at all considering the weather conditions that prevail around the Cape.
As Lula Wormell, daughter of the missing captain of the Deering, continued her search, another possible clue to the mystery emerged. A bottle found by a local fisherman, Christopher Gray, in April 1921 contained a message with the following excerpt: ”Deering captured by oil-burning boat…crew hiding…handcuffed…no chance to escape…finder to notify Deering headqtrs.” Initially, handwriting experts determined that the message had probably been written by Bates, the engine man of the schooner. This discovery encouraged a determined Lula Wormell to use her influence and gain the support of Herbert Hoover, then Secretary of Commerce. Hoover enlisted other agencies including the Navy, State, and Justice Departments to join the search, and consulates around the world were alerted to possible piracy attempts. Soon, the FBI was brought in to investigate the validity of the discovery and the message in the bottle. They concluded that the whole thing was indeed a hoax, perpetrated by Gray in an effort to impress the people at the Cape Hatteras lighthouse where he was seeking employment.
Subsequently, some effort was made to locate any of the 40 seamen from the Hewitt that may have survived its disappearance. One man and possible survivor had aroused the suspicion of the Consulate in Istanbul because of passport discrepancies. The FBI discovered upon questioning Raney that he had indeed signed on with the Hewitt, but an unfortunate accident onboard just 20 minutes before the ship was scheduled to leave Sabine had put him in the hospital and he was unable to sail. In Raney’s opinion, the ship had simply broken up because of overloading, which was often the case. Whether this was true or not is hard to say, but the FBI accepted his explanation.
Considering the perseverance of Lula Wormell in seeking an answer to the disappearance of the Deering, the lack of interest by the Bureau of Inspection and Navigation and the Steamboat Investigation Service in finding the Hewitt or its survivors, if any, was deplorable. Unfortunately, with no ship or cargo to provide revenue, the courts and insurance companies refused at the time to provide compensation for the seamen’s families. The settlement amount paid to Union Sulphur is unknown, but it is doubtful that it covered the full value of the Hewitt at $1,200,000 and its cargo worth $175,000. If the families of the missing members of the merchant marine were ever compensated for their loss, it was certainly not nearly enough. Regrettably, seamen’s rights were not widely recognized, and members of the merchant marine had little influence in the 1920’s.
Whether the Bolsheviks, pirates, weather, or other circumstances were the cause, the mysterious disappearances of the Hewitt and the Deering have never been explained. Although it is presumed the Hewitt was somewhere near the area of Cape Hatteras and Diamond Shoals, based on their last radio contact, this too may be incorrect. In fact, the ship may never have reached the coast off Atlantic City, and sailed no further than Jupiter Inlet in Florida. In any event, it is strange that with all the numerous diving expeditions off the Atlantic coast, no further evidence of either ship or its survivors has ever been found.
Sharon Slayton
September 21, 2008
What Happened To TWA Flight #3 - Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard, the famous Hollywood starlet of the 1930’s, is probably best remembered as the wife of the legendary Clark Gable. She, like many others, was an active participant in the sale of war bonds shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Accompanied by her mother and a press agent, she returned to her hometown of Indianapolis in January 1942. The sale’s success of over $2 million in bonds was not surprising, but the circumstances surrounding the event were puzzling. Rather than returning to California by train, Lombard changed her plans at the last minute to TWA Flight #3. Her mother, an avid numerologist, was hesitant from the beginning and superstitious about the number 3, the letters and flight number of the airline. In addition, there were 3 people in their group, and Carole’s age at the time was 33.
The first hint of something amiss was the unscheduled stop at Lambert Field in St Louis, Missouri. Grounded for inclement weather is not an unusual occurrence; however, the weather had been perfect for the flight up to this time. For no apparent reason, a dense smoke screen arose unexpectedly in front of the aircraft, and visibility dropped quickly from 12 miles to 2 in about an hour. After a 2-hour layover at Lambert, the ill-fated flight continued on to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where another strange incident took place. Four people on the flight were asked by TWA to release their seats to a group of Army pilots. Not only was this an odd request at the time, but also the airport’s close proximity to the secret Area 51 military facility in Roswell aroused even more curiosity as time went by.
Normally, the flight to Los Angeles would have been non stop, but the layover delay and strong headwinds meant refueling was necessary. The next logical stop at Boulder, Colorado was considered; however, the runway there was unlighted, so the plane continued on to Las Vegas. After refueling in Las Vegas, the plane departed for California at 7 pm in clear, cold weather. Only one runway light was left on as ordered by the war department, which might have increased the glare from the lights in the cockpit. It is doubtful, however, that this interfered to any great extent with the pilot’s capability, as the radio beam and other equipment were functioning correctly. Although Captain Williams, an experienced pilot, and the co-pilot had not flown together on this particular segment of the flight, this seemed to be irrelevant. No reasonable explanation could be given why the plane veered some 6.7 miles off course shortly after takeoff. All pilot bulletins for 6 months previous had directed a flying altitude of 8,000 feet, yet the aircraft was several hundred feet below that when it crashed on Table Mountain, the eastern slope of Death Valley about 30 miles southwest of Vegas.
Workers from the Blue Diamond Mine in nearby Arden, Nevada, reported hearing an explosion and seeing fire on the mountainside. They were able to assist a group of soldiers, Indians, and riders on horseback led by Major Anderson from the gunnery school at McCarran Field in searching the trails on the Potosi mountain range. The wreckage, however, was eventually sighted by Western Airlines pilot Art Cheney, enroute to Vegas from California. Unfortunately, the tremendous impact and fire had destroyed all the evidence including the flight plan and navigational log that might have been helpful in explaining the crash.
Adding to the mystery surrounding the flight were 100 highly classified documents, which were released many years later by the FBI in 1985. These included reports of UFO sightings in the same area just hours before the untimely disaster. This might explain why the group of military pilots requested immediate space on the flight, perhaps on an urgent mission to investigate these sightings. We probably will never know if numerology or aliens from outer space had anything to do with the crash of TWA Flt #3 - perhaps it was nothing more than an unfortunate twist of fate.
(Note: Carole Lombard’s remains were interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California, at her request. The Army's offer of a military funeral for her war bond support was refused, but a WWII Liberty ship was given her name.)
Sharon Slayton
September 13, 2008
Unanswered Questions – Korean Airlines (KAL) Flight 007
The Boeing 747 KAL Flight 007 left JFK on August 31, 1983, with 269 occupants including 240 passengers, 22 of which were children, and flight crew personnel. The majority were American and Korean, with a few other nationalities such as Taiwanese, Japanese, and Filipino. After refueling, the plane took off from Anchorage, Alaska at 4 am (1300 GMT) on September 1, 1983 bound for Kimpo Airport in Seoul. Shortly after departure, the airplane began to deviate from its assigned North Pacific course to Japan. This route was extremely close, within 17½ miles, to Soviet airspace and the off-limits zone for civilian aircraft. Failing to make radar detection at Bethel, the last navigational point on the mainland of the U.S., it continued off course to enter the designated Air Defense buffer zone of the Kamchatka Peninsula. The area was carefully monitored by Soviet surveillance, and plans were in place to test fire their SS-25 ICBM, a missile declared illegal through the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaties (SALT) between the Soviet Union and the U.S.
Information from the cockpit voice recorder indicates that the pilot and crew were unaware that they were entering a controlled airspace. It has been considered, but it is doubtful, that they chose this particular flight path to save fuel. After attempting to contact the pilot of Flt 007 and getting no response, the Soviets fired several warning shots at the aircraft. Within minutes, the order was given to bring down the airplane as it was about to leave the airspace for the second time. After two missiles were fired by the Soviet interceptor jets, Flt 007 disappeared from the radar, but there were no Mayday broadcasts as it continued to descend. There is considerable discrepancy in the time element with some information pointing to a rapid descent and decompression. Other data reflect a leveling off of the aircraft for at least 5 minutes after being hit. This would indicate that Captain Chun, the pilot, was able to switch to manual control as the plane descended.
Although the initial press report stated that the plane had landed safely on Sakhalin Island, a disputed territory between Japan and Russia, this proved untrue. KAL Flt 007 crashed in the sea just north of Moneron Island, with no survivors. Just 9 days after the crash, the Chief of General Staff of the Soviet Union said they did not know where the crash had occurred and could not locate it. This was refuted, however, 9 years later, when military communications revealed that within minutes, the Soviets had launched KGB border guard boats, helicopters, and civilian ships to the site. Whether or not this was only a simulated rescue effort was not determined. Although they claimed nothing of the wreckage was found, Yeltsin's report in November 1983 stated that the black box tapes were top secret, but had been recovered and sent to Moscow for interpretation. Apparently, they did not furnish proof that the plane was on a spy mission or actually in Soviet airspace when shot down. Further rescue efforts through October by the U.S., South Korea, and the Japanese were met with hostile interference by the Soviets, who claimed territorial rights to the crash site.
The Soviet interceptor pilot, Major Osipovich, admitted in a 1996 interview with the NY Times that he was aware that it was a civilian aircraft because of the double rows of windows and blinking lights. Yet, he failed to alert the ground controllers of its probable identity, and these lights were not detectible by them. However, he added that he could not be sure that the plane was not an RC-135, a U.S. reconnaissance plane, or possibly a civilian aircraft that had been converted for military purposes. This argument was weak, however, as there was little similarity between the Boeing 747 and the 135.
Through intensive investigations, numerous theories were offered, with differing opinions on all sides. A suggestion that the plane was indeed a military aircraft, carrying no civilian passengers, was quickly dismissed. The strategic commander of the Soviet operation proposed a theory of a wind tunnel formed when the nose and tail broke off, and passengers were then sucked through and out of the plane. If so, then why were there no remains? Although the passenger cabin was punctured in numerous places, the overall area was too small for anyone to be sucked out from there. According to a flight crew broadcast, oxygen masks were deployed and passengers were warned of an emergency descent. There should have been enough oxygen left for some to remain conscious for at least 12 minutes after impact.
There was yet another theory proposed - an assassination plot planned by the Soviets. The most noteworthy passenger on the flight was U.S. Congressman, Larry McDonald, a well-known anti-communist on his way to the 30th anniversary of the U.S./South Korea Mutual Defense Treaty. McDonald was also president of the John Birch Society, whose mission was to expose the communism of the Soviet Union. No evidence existed, however, that the Soviets knew of this passenger until the media revealed the information after the crash occurred.
The pilot of the accompanying KAL Flight 015, also carrying U.S. Congressmen, believed that the coordinates of the flight plan might have been improperly entered in the Inertial Navigation System. When discovered, Captain Chun of Flt 007 then chose to follow the aircraft's magnetic compass, rather than returning to Alaska, which might explain the flight path deviation.
Overall, a total of 1,020 items were recovered, and of this total, only a few unidentifiable body parts were found eight days after the crash along the shores of Hokkaido, Japan. Reports from the media stated that a few items of clothing had apparently been dry cleaned before being sent to Japan, and others were found zipped up, but nothing inside. Some speculated that giant crabs or sharks may have devoured the bodies, but this would not explain the absence of any bones. Other non-human remains were also found including seats, books, shoes, and a camera, but no luggage was found by either the Russians or the international search parties. This led many to suppose that the passengers and their belongings were trapped within the aircraft itself. Civilian divers claimed to have found a plane filled with garbage, but again no bodies.
The U.S. and Korea were understandably outraged at this unbelievable tragedy, and protests arose around the world. President Reagan deemed this a "massacre...a crime against humanity...," and proceeded to revoke the license of Soviet Aeroflot flights to the U.S, the revocation enforced until 1986. Although the Soviets expressed their regret over the loss of lives, they insisted that the entire unfortunate incident was caused by the CIA's involvement and instigation of a spy plane mission. The International Civil Aviation Organization disagreed and determined that the violation of Soviet airspace was accidental. As a result of the disaster, military radars from Anchorage were extended, and Reagan directed that GPS be used for civilian as well as military aircraft (a directive finalized by Clinton in 1996).
There is no question that KAL Flt 007 was shot down, but what really happened to those inside the aircraft? Was the plane within the off-limits zone, or in neutral waters? Was it a deliberate "act of brutality" by the Soviets, or a justifiable defense of their territorial zone? Why did Air Traffic controllers in Anchorage somehow fail to note the positions of both KAL flights? These are just a few of the many questions that may remain unanswered, for one reason or another.
Sharon Slayton
August 28, 2008
The Mystery of Amelia Earhart
It is unlikely that any other travel mystery has attracted more interest or speculation worldwide than the unexplained disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Recognized for her many daring accomplishments in aviation, her ultimate fate is still a puzzling one. After successfully crossing the Atlantic, the U.S. from coast to coast in 1932, and soloing from Hawaii to California in 1935, her next venture to fly around the world, unfortunately, would be her last. The first part of the 4-stage journey went well, but problems arose after leaving Lae, New Guinea in July 1937 enroute to Howland Island in the Pacific. Climbing to 10,000 feet to avoid the strong headwinds, the Lockheed Electra was gradually veering off course. With a rapidly depleting fuel supply, the plane was now heading into the sun and too far southwest in the opposite direction. About 20 hours into the flight, the last radio communication from Earhart was received by the Itasca, a Coast Guard boat stationed at Howland. An intensive search by 10 ships and 66 planes was launched, but no trace of the plane, Earhart, or her navigator, Fred Noonan, was found.
Officially, it was determined that the aircraft simply ran out of fuel and crashed into the sea, with no survivors. But, as happens with most tragic events, curiosity arose, as aviation experts, researchers, scientists, and journalists offered explanations and possibilities. From newspaper headlines to radio commentaries, everyone had an opinion as to what had happened. Rumors circulated that “America’s sweetheart” was one of the voices of the infamous Tokyo Rose; this, of course, proved to be nothing more than material for the tabloids.
One of the more credible theories was that the two made it to the Phoenix Islands and survived on Nikumaroro, the once uninhabited Gardner Island, as castaways until their death. Certainly, Robinson Crusoe readers were intrigued, but there does seem to be some real evidence to support this theory. Even the U.S. Navy and Earhart’s mother felt the flight had ended somewhere in the Phoenix Islands. Richard Gillespie of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) based his investigation of the crash on the aircraft’s last known position, as well as on reports of a plane wreck and a man and woman living on Nikumaroro in 1939. Various items were recovered, which included aircraft parts unique to a Lockheed Electra and a bit of footwear similar to that worn by Earhart in flight attire. TIGHAR’s recent expedition in July-August 2007 discovered bronze aircraft bearings and a zipper pull, possibly from a flight suit. These artifacts are only circumstantial evidence, but TIGHAR continues to investigate Lockheed aircraft crashes, as well as other types of aircraft lost near the Phoenix Islands. George Putnam, Jr., Earhart’s stepson, has enthusiastically supported the Group’s research.
Just as convincing to some people, however, is the possibility that they were not heading to Howland Island as reported, but were on a secret mission directed by FDR to the Marshall Islands (then controlled by the Japanese). In this scenario, it is thought that the Japanese intercepted their last radio transmission and captured them upon landing. Here, they were held as hostages and eventually killed in Saipan. In 1949, Army Intelligence along with the United Press and Jackie Cochran, another world famous aviatrix and close friend of Earhart, completely dismissed the theory that the Japanese were involved in the disappearance. They based their conclusion on an extensive search of Japanese post-war files.
Others have presented evidence pointing toward a safe rescue and return to the US. Retired AF Colonel Reineck, considered an expert on the subject, explored this conspiracy theory in his book Amelia Earhart Survived, published in 2003. He writes that the plane was purposely ditched in the Marshall Islands, as planned by the U.S. government. While on a rescue mission for Earhart, they would then gain access to Japanese pre-war intelligence. Brought back to the U.S., different identities for security reasons would be assumed. Thus, Amelia Earhart became Irene Cragmile, married Guy Bolam, and lived in New Jersey until her death in 1982. Photographs of Irene Bolam and handwriting evidence would seem to prove that Earhart and Bolam were one and the same.
Although this does sounds plausible, it was contradicted with a televised series Undiscovered History by the National Geographic Channel in 2006. The broadcast was based upon an earlier book with the same theory, Amelia Earhart Lives, written by Joe Klaas in 1970. However, the real Irene Bolam, a banker in the 1940’s, denied that she was Earhart and filed a $1.5 million claim against the publishers, McGraw-Hill, who withdrew the book from the market and settled out of court. Other researchers and forensic specialists analyzed both women’s lives and photographs and came to the same conclusion – this was not Earhart.
The story of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance is a fascinating one, a legend and a mystery to this day.
Sharon Slayton
August 21, 2008
The Crash of Egypt Air Flight 990
Sharon Slayton follows up her interesting article on flights that vanished in the Bermuda Triangle with another airline disaster mystery.
The Boeing 767 left LAX, October 31, 1999, with 203 passengers and 14 crew members on a regularly scheduled route to Cairo, Egypt, with a stopover at JFK. Two separate crews were required for the long, international flight – one for takeoff, landing, and the first few hours in the air, and a second relief crew for the remaining flying time. Among the passengers from 7 different countries were over 30 high-ranking military officers from Egypt, whose identity and purpose of travel were not clearly revealed at the time. Radio contact was lost shortly after takeoff from JFK, and about 1:50 am, just 60 miles south of Nantucket, the plane went down in the Atlantic Ocean. In this short time, the aircraft deviated from its assigned path at 33,000 feet in a series of erratic ups and downs, diving to 16,000 feet, back up to 24,000, and then the final dive into the Atlantic.
Aeronautical engineers thoroughly analyzed this strange flight pattern, but could find no satisfactory explanation as to how or why this occurred. Furthermore, there was no evidence of an explosion, and there were no other commercial or military aircraft scheduled for this flight plan. This led to speculation that another unidentified type of aircraft was flying the same flight path, but if so, where did it come from, and why was there no information on it from the control tower at JFK?
The media, of course, reacted worldwide with a great deal of controversy and speculation over what caused the crash of Egypt Air Flight 990. Rumors of suicide and terrorism circulated, based upon the cockpit voice recording and various misinterpretations of the words in Arabic of Al-Batouti, the co-pilot. During the final few minutes of Flight 990, according to the flight data recorder, we hear the captain saying, “what’s happening,” and then “pull with me.” As the plane continued its downward plunge, the co-pilot kept repeating “I rely on God.” Much emphasis was placed by the media upon the tape recording as to what was said and the quality of the tape itself. Some sources claimed the words were “I made my decision now. I put my faith in God’s hands,” but this was never verified.
Another possibility mentioned too was that the co-pilot was reacting to a “surprise” development, and reciting a shaddah, Muslim prayer, when facing death. Questions arose about the apparent disconnection of the autopilot, as well. Was this a necessary reaction to the failure of the aircraft, or a deliberate act of suicide? Egypt officials promptly disagreed with the theory of suicide, as it is considered a mortal sin in their religion, and Al-Batouti did not fit the profile in any other way. Several members of the Egyptian press even suggested other theories, which included a CIA conspiracy with Israel’s secret service, the Mossad, an accidental firing of a missile by the U.S., which brought the aircraft down, or a secret recovery and reprogramming of the airplane’s black box before word could reach the public.
Since the flight had taken place over international waters, the Egyptian government participated in the investigation of the crash, along with numerous U.S. government agencies including the Department of Defense, the Coast Guard, the FAA, and Boeing. Just two weeks into the investigation, the NTSB declared it a criminal event to be turned over to the FBI. This was met, however, with vehement objections by Egyptian officials, who responded by sending their chief of intelligence, Omar Suleiman, to the U.S. Egypt Air’s report clearly refuted the idea of a deliberate action on the part of the co-pilot. Their engineers attributed the crash to a mechanical failure of the elevator control system, but the U.S. did not agree. Although there seemed to be little reliable data on this possibility at the time of the investigation, similar malfunctions on other Boeing aircraft did occur in the years following.
After almost two years of investigation, the NTSB published their final, official report on the disaster. It attributed the crash to the co-pilot’s handling of the flight controls, and made no mention of a suicide mission or imply that these were deliberate, criminal actions on his part. The reasons for the disaster remain unclear, and the questions about sabotage, conspiracy, or unknown aircraft are not answered, at least in the official report. The latter theory could not be proved or disproved, as some radar and test data were not released. No one survived this deadly crash, and the bits of wreckage that were recovered are now secured in an aircraft hangar in the U.S.
August 15, 2008
Unexplained Airplane Disappearances - The Bermuda Triangle
On January 31, 1948, a British passenger plane, the Star Tiger, disappeared somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle. The Tudor IV aircraft were a relatively new design of the British South American Airways Corporation, having spent about 500 hours in the air, but with no history of mechanical or structural failure. They had been flown successfully during the Berlin airlift, and were part of a transatlantic fleet with routes to Bermuda, the West Indies, and the coast of South America.
The plane left England on January 30, 1948 with 25 passengers on a long flight scheduled to arrive around 5 am the next day in Bermuda. One of the passengers of note, Air Marshall Sir Arthur Coningham, was a British World War II hero, having served as Commander in Chief during the Battle of Normandy. After refueling at Santa Maria Island in the Azores, the flight continued with no apparent problems. Although the Tudor aircraft was airtight and capable of much higher altitudes, the Star Tiger was flying low at 2,000 feet to avoid the headwinds from the Gulf Stream. The pilot and crew were highly experienced, and the runway at their destination was clearly lit and visible from 30 miles away. Everything seemed in order, according to the last contact with the plane’s radio operator at 3:15 am; yet, the plane and its passengers disappeared and were never seen or heard from again.
A ship at sea, the S.S. Troubadour, reported an airplane flying at a low altitude between Bermuda and Delaware Bay. It is doubtful, however, that this was the Star Tiger, since it would have been way off course. Extensive investigations by the British Civil Air Ministry were conducted, but no plausible explanation could be found for the disappearance. The possibility of low fuel or engine failure at this stage of the flight would not have been a factor, as the aircraft could have flown on three or even two engines for the short remaining distance. With no problems in weather, atmospheric conditions, visibility, or the aircraft itself, what happened so quickly to the Star Tiger remains a mystery to this day.
One year later, a similar British Tudor IV aircraft, the Star Ariel, disappeared on January 17, 1949 in the Bermuda Triangle. The Star Ariel was awaiting flight instructions in Bermuda, when it was called upon to replace another plane and take 13 passengers to Kingston, Jamaica. At 8:41 am, the flight left Kindley Field in Bermuda in perfect weather. About an hour into the flight, the pilot radioed in his position at 18,000 feet and estimated arrival time in Kingston at 2:10 pm. The Star Ariel had virtually unlimited visibility both above and far below to the Sargasso Sea.
One interesting, unexplainable factor was later considered, however. Throughout the day, communication had been poor, with unidentifiable static and loss of reception for short intervals on certain channels in the area. Some experts think it possible that a distress message sent by the pilot might have been lost, or intercepted, but others disagree. In any event, the communication problems mysteriously disappeared about an hour before the Star Ariel would have arrived in Bermuda. Extensive searches by British aircraft and U.S. Navy planes and ships came up empty. No trace of the 7-member crew, the passengers, or the wreckage was ever found.
The disappearances of the Star Tiger and Star Ariel in less than a year’s time and in the same approximate location may well have been just a coincidence. Even so, they were not the first and would not be the last mystery of the "Devil’s Triangle."
(Note: As a result of these two losses, the Tudor aircraft were withdrawn from service.)
Sharon Slayton