53rd anniversary

This May 22nd marks the 53rd anniversary of the downing of Continental Airlines Flight 11.

 - LEST WE FORGET

Tis the Season!

It is that time of year again when one reflects on what has passed, particularly after the hype of Christmas has died off a little and we are faced with the prospect of ringing in a new year.

It is hard to believe that over two and a half years ago I flew to Unionville, Missouri to see the crash site of Flight 11 first-hand and also to meet people like Duane Crawford and Ronnie Cook face to face. Where has that time gone!?

Since then I have journeyed back to the USA every year as more information has come to light about Flight 11. I have met more people, connected more families and "joined the dots" in a lot of different ways. And of course all this from a blog started WAY back in 2007.

This year I had the pleasure of meeting with Kathryn Hamilton of the Hamilton family whose father was board the ill-fated flight in 1962. While over in the United States and in fact walking around Hollywood in California I answered my mobile phone on a beautiful hot day to find my future employer eagerly on the phone offering me a job at the national carrier of New Zealand.

I accepted and signed the papers when I returned to Auckland in late June. I have not looked back since then and working in aviation is an absolute delight; like the icing on the cake, especially for someone so involved with aviation as I was in a personal manner.

With all that aside I wish all the Flight 11 "family" a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

Former Continental Staff circa 1950s/1960s

It has come to my attention over the years of my experiences with Flight 11 that a number of former Continental employees have reunited via this blog and the events surrounding Flight 11 memorial services over the last few years.

Not only this but it has also brought about a number of ex crew (who in some cases were colleagues of the victims of Flight 11) to enquire as to where they may be able to go to post old stories and memories in an open-style "forum."

I have thought about the feasibility of starting an ancillary blog for these former employees of the day to come forward and share any stories they have, Flight 11 related or not.

If anyone is interested in this or knows anyone with a similar site do let me know as it is something I may start merely as an open-post "wall" if you will for people to put their memories out there.

In keeping with the Flight 11 theme however I would keep it strictly from that era... any thoughts or directions from anyone would be greatly appreciated in this matter. I know many of you have often asked "I wonder whatever happened to so and so...". I'm sure we could unravel a few more mysteries of the day

:-)

The Continental Eagle Staff Magazine - Captain Fred Gray - December, 1950

I received a Continental Airlines internal company publication detailing the end of year activities of Continental Airlines. It is dated December 1950.

The pages contain a fascinating snapshot into life at Continental when it was still a "growing-up" airline. The close-knit Continental "family" appear on the pages at various social events the airline held for its employees. Technological and aviation advances are also mentioned along with the company's latest exploits.

Of particular note on one of the pages is a picture of none other than Captain Fred Gray who would pilot the ill-fated Flight 11 some twelve years later.

Here is the excerpt from the magazine below.

Magazine courtesy of Ms Jayne Specht.

52 years - Lest We Forget - Continental Airlines Flight 11

Th 52nd anniversary of Continental Airlines Flight 11 is approaching. May 22nd marks the date when 44 innocent lives were taken out of this world as they hurtled across the dark skies of rural America and ended near the town of Unionville, Missouri.

Two years ago we marked the 50th anniversary and it feels just like the other day I was in Unionville over that hot memorial weekend in 2012.

Although May 22nd may bring a rollercoaster of emotions to do with the senseless loss of the Boeing 707 and the souls on board, may it also bring a flicker of closure and peace knowing that this event has not been forgotten. Neither have the people on board whose lives were cut so short.

Continental Airlines Flight 11 - Lest We Forget.

Captain Richard Grigsby, Continental Airlines

Following on from the aftermath of Flight 11, a friend and colleague of Captain Fred Gray had written a poem called "Top O Climb". The poem was published in The Denver Post in 62 by Captain Richard Grigsby. Grigsby had a distinguished and long flying career. I had made efforts to contact him to see if he was still alive to perhaps capture his memories of Captain Gray and the other crew aboard Flight 11. Sadly I found Mr Grigsby's obituary dated February 5th 2014. I hope he was aware of our efforts re Flight 11. His lovely poem dedicated to Fred Gray is as follows: (unfortunately we haven't ever confirmed the original date of publication but it was some time shortly after May 22nd, 1962)

TOP O' CLIMB

The big jet starts to roll reluctantly,

For flight ahead is long and there is fuel

Which must be burdened, else

It cannot be.

That cunning will be victor in the duel

With Time and Space.

What power it takes to lift away from ground-

To blast such heavy burden into flight!

A thousand banshees couldn't wail the sound,

A thousand winged horses match the might of this great bird!

Her climb is rapid, now that speed is gained.

She flashes upward, forward, winning free;

But still the awful power must be sustained

To lift her into Nature's rarest sea

Far, in the sky.

At top o'climb, the battle all but won,

She settles down, her only labor just

To cruise a close companion to the sun.

Before she drops her power to "idle thrust",

Descends the other side.

RICHARD S. GRIGSBY

Capt. Continental Air Lines

30,000 views

The blog has passed the 30,000 view mark; extraordinary for something that, jut a few years ago, hadn't even been heard of on the internet.

Amazing what the internet can do! :-)

Juliet November Charlie Book

My book of my aviation "memoirs" (if they can be called that at my age) has been completed. The title is "Juliet November Charlie". It details my involvements with Flight 11 and also has a number of other amusing tales from my time flying around New Zealand. I intend to send it to publisher's by the end of January. If any of the families connected with the Flight 11 tragedy would like a manuscript emailed to them please let me know @ dhcomet@gmail.com.

Please note that I will not be emailing copies to members of the public  - family members only.  

2014

Wishing all the "Flight 11 family" a happy New Year and here's to a prosperous 2014. Hope everyone had a great Christmas too.


***

My book that I have been writing since late 2012 is about to be sent to the publisher's in January 2014. As many of you know it details some of my aviation exploits over the years and of note is the Flight 11 chapter which details my involvement in Flight 11 and my recollections of the 2012 50th anniversary memorial service.

I will keep readers of this blog posted about the progress of this book.

Failing any interest from publishers I will self-publish in some form or another...rest assured.

Flight 11 book

I am currently in the process of writing a book about my aviation experiences around the globe and not surprisingly I want to feature Continental Flight 11 in it.

If any of the relatives have any photos or anything they'd like to share with me I'd be very grateful.

Additionally if anyone else has any other materials they think might be useful I'd love to hear about them.

Contact me at dhcomet@gmail.com

The Continental Airlines 1962 Timetable

I have sourced the cover (sadly the cover only!) of a Continental Airlines timetable from 1962. Here is the image of the cover as below.

I have also sourced a number of copies of scans of timetables from 1959, 1963 and 1965 from Continental. If people want to see these send me an email dhcomet@gmail.com and I can email a copy of the images.

Flight 11 documentary

On Thursday September 26th, 2013, a documentary segment about Flight 11 will air at 9pm on the Travel Channel. It will feature in the "Mysteries at the Museum" programme. 

Boeing B-47 Stratojet out of Forbes AFB, Topeka, Kansas

As many people connected with Flight 11 are aware, a USAF Boeing B-47 Stratojet that was in the vicinity of Kirksville, MO, on the night of May 22nd, saw a bright flash in the to the north of the aircraft's position. It is generally accepted that the flash seen by the commander of this B-47 flight was the explosion of Flight 11.

The B-47 was an important aircraft in the USAF, particularly around the time of Flight 11s demise.

Does anyone who was in the USAF or who knows anyone who was in the USAF at the time, have any information on the specifics of the B-47 incident involving Flight 11?

As it was reported widely at the time and the sighting was included in the Flight 11 accident report it would be fair to assume that someone, somewhere, may recall being on that B-47 that night or know the people who were or maybe heard about it later at the Forbes Air Force Base. It would be interesting to see if anyone comes forward with any further information.

Pictures from Putnam County Museum taken by Sandy Crawford

Sandy Crawford took these photos down at the Putnam County Museum. I thought I'd put them up here as she does a better job than me with a camera (it's merely the fact I'm a technophobe and can't operate mine!)

Lake Thunderhead from 32,000 feet.

These pictures were taken from a commercial jet flying very near Lake Thunderhead. This lake was an addition to the landscape post Flight 11. This gives you a good layout of the accident area and you can also see in some of the shots the runway of Unionville Airport, MO.

David E. Olssen's family visit Unionville

The family of David Olssen, Director of Passenger Services on Flight 11, visited Unionville on July 2.

They had a look around the Putnam County Museum and at the memorial. They were also lunch guests of Mr Duane Crawford at a cafe in Unionville.

David's widow Mary C. Olssen, daughter Trina M. Olssen and sister-in-law Margaret Selling and Robert Ibnonsalah made the deviation through Unionville on their way up to Michigan from Texas.

Mary is 91.

I'm very pleased they made it to Unionville.

Henry Hanna

On June 4th Unionville received two visitors from Minnesota. Patrick Hanna and his wife Betty. Patrick is the son of Flight 11 passenger Henry Hanna. He was a superintendent with the "Michigan, Wisconsin and American Louisiana Gas Pipeline" company. 

Duane Crawford and Ron Cook took the Hanna's to the crash site and  later on Maribeth DeHaven took them around the museum.

It's always nice when families of Flight 11 travel to Missouri to see the site and town first hand...not to mention the memorial in the town square. 

   

Twitter @CalFlight11

I have opened up a Twitter account @CALFlight11 to extend the circulation and visibility of this blog. With many younger people now using Twitter in their everyday lives I felt it prudent to keep the information on the blog in the most relevant places. Many of the kids I spoke to at Putnam County High asked if there was anything about Flight 11 online so they could look it up. Of course Facebook and Twitter were mentioned a lot but Blogger.com is becoming a bit "old hat".

The blog of course will remain the main site and remain updated etc. The Twitter account is merely a supplementary tool and link to the blog.

Blog URL change

Since 2007 the blog has had a misspelt URL. Instead of being Continental it reads Continenal (no "t").

This has been pointed out many times. However changing the URL would mean that people who have it saved in documents or favourites wouldn't be able to find it again and it upsets its visibility in google search as well. 

So I have decided to leave it misspelt purely so that it never loses its place on the net and people can find it.

I'm sure people will understand my decision. 

David E. Olssen

I have been contacted by the niece of David E. Olssen, director of passenger services on Flight 11.

She has a remarkable story regarding Mr Olssen. He left behind a wife and two children. However as with many Flight 11 related things there is a twist to the story. Mr Olssen was in New Zealand during WWII. He even made a pendant out of a New Zealand coin which his niece wears to this day. Ironic considering a New Zealander (myself) helped get the memorial rolling for the flight.

Another remarkable connection and a welcome addition to the "Flight 11 family".