Mystery of the Missing Congressmen
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On October 16, 1972 a small Cessna 310 aircraft carrying four people went missing en route between Anchorage and Juneau Alaska. While flying in Alaska can be notably treacherous, the loss of this particular aircraft was especially notable, as among the four were two US congressmen, Alaska’s Nick Begich, and Louisiana's Hale Boggs, the house majority leader.
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Lance, you call this history, but I call it memory. I was a freshman in high school at the time and the three networks all carried the story for days.
My father who grew up in Alaska, said at the time, that people disappear in Alaska all the time. Usually because of a lack of respect for the climate and conditions. I personally know two pilots that had thousands of hours bush flying there that disappeared with no traces found. Alaska is HUGE!!
Apples and oranges, but this reminded me of when Sen. Heinz of PA was killed. I had been working on his home in Cleveland Park right before it happened. Coming back from Middle East during first Gulf War, if I remember correctly. Small plane was hit by a news helicopter. Tragic. Then his widow,Theresa, married John Kerry. Ironic.
A friend who is from Alaska told me once that in Alaska "there are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old, bold pilots."
Just before the loss, "FLYING" magazine had an article by the pilot about ...."Ice Without Fear". Jonz flew into known icing conditions in a plane that could (and probably did) turn into a brick from icing. While many theories abound, the best and easiest is that the pilot was too cocky and pushed his luck too far. As a pilot and living in Alaska at the time.... I saw the "Flying" article is a major insight into the pilot's mindset.
In almost all aviation accidents, the simplest answer is usually the correct answer. You stated that the airplane had just come out of a standard inspection. It is well-known that the most dangerous time to fly a plane is the first couple of flights after an inspection. It is a prime time for human error to come into play and create a situation ripe for aircraft failure - often electronics or engines. So, that's the most likely cause of this crash. Finally, it is no surprise the plane has never been found. Alaska is rugged and lightly populated. That plane may never be found. May they rest in peace.
Conspiracy theories aside, let me say only this: 1. October is "very much already winter" in Alaska. And, 2. The weather in Alaska can turn suddenly dangerous in a heartbeat. I know both of these things from experience, as I have USAF flight time over Alaska, in air rescue.
A college friend's dad was a retired Fairbanks based bush pilot, he commented that Jonz believed he flew better without the locator.
Great presentation. My brother was an Alaska State trooper at the time, himself a pilot, had cited the Don Johns for lack of carrying emergency equipment required by Alaska law, and was by reputation a bad pilot...planes in Alaska dissappear on a regular basis many not found...Ted Stevens survived the crash and died from injuries before help could arrive hours later...
Many years ago I was with search and rescue with an Air Search certification. We were called out for a missing aircraft between Cranbrook BC Canada and Fernie, BC. The aircraft was not found but a hunter tripped on the engine while hunting some 10 years later. It was ruled that the aircraft exploded in mid-air.
The Air National Guard participated in this search. I was an air technician for them at the time. I know a person that was flying Anchorage at the same time Jonz was flying through. A very experienced pilot, he thought with the weather that Jonz never made it across Portage glacier. Don Jonz's girlfriend was going going on that flight but the aide bumped her off. She is still in Alaska. I'm a pilot myself and the people that I know who knew Jonz weren't impressed with his skills. That is how we got Young and all his baggage.
"Out of the blue in the western sky comes...Sky King'!
It appears that a straight line route from Anchorage to Juneau would not only cross Prince William Sound but also spend a fair bit of time over the Gulf of Alaska. Planes going down in deep water are extremely difficult to find.
A few us still here and have flown with Don, remember some of his ideas about icing. Among other acts of piloting back in the old days in Fairbanks at interior airways..no surprise.
When I heard them mention a recent maintenance inspection on Don Jonz's airplane, then I knew it was a maintenance issue that brought down the plane. When I was an Air Force aircraft maintenance technician, I noted that 90 percent of all maintenance issues were caused by previous maintenance by other technicians (sometimes even the same one). A bad wire (accidently cut by someone else), a loose connection (not reconnected properly by another tech), and my favorite a bad circuit board (that wasn't properly tested before or after install or installed improperly). Many aircraft incidents are prevented by pilots and ground crews doing a thorough preflight check looking for equipment anomalies, funny noises, strange vibrations, or even panels with missing fasteners. One time I was servicing a B-52 just back from depot and noted a weird problem in our Electronic Warfare System when the Navigation Radar was turned on, but only that system. Yet, neither system was connected to each other, yet one affected the other. Turns out it was a loose ground in the power panel, and it affected several systems but never at the same time (just randomly). Aircraft maintenance is a challenging field and must be done correctly and meticulously by the book.
Since we are on this topic..... Can we get a video on the Senator Heinz mid air over Lower Merion Elementary?
In 1994 the wreckage of a WW2 patrol bomber (a Lockheed Ventura) with a crew of 5, from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station was found by a hiker on Mount Baker, about 60 mikes from the Navy base . The Pacific Northwest is far more densely populated than that area of Alaska and Mt. Baker is an oft climbed and hiked mountain. It was 41 years from the time the Navy plane went down until the wreckage was discovered. It is not surprising at all that no wreckage of the Cessna has been found to date
ELT's have also been notoriously unreliable as well, a hard enough crash could damage the ELT or antenna bad enough that it would just not activate or activate but be unable to be heard.
I lived in Alaska for many years. I flew constantly between Fairbanks and Anchorage. I was in 3 "unplanned landings" during that time. It really is odd that most of the plane crashes there don't even make the news, as opposed to down here in the Seattle area where I live now.