Continental Flight 11 website

 It is with great interest and pleasure that I can announce there has been an amazing website launched regarding Flight 11 by a young Australian author & historian, Diana Bowman. Diana has meticulously researched a number of aspects of Flight 11 and turned up some amazing information on the victims, the plane itself and exhaustive information from the time. The website link as per below. I must commend Diana for her humanitarian spirit and her natural curiosity regarding the crash. 

https://www.dianarcher.org/

62nd Anniversary

 This May 22nd 2024 marks the 62nd anniversary of the crash of Continental Airlines Flight 11.

Lest we forget.  

Disaster at 39,000 feet

 A new book has been published by Iowa based author Enfys McMurray. The title "disaster at 39,000 feet", offers a spellbinding account of what happened that night and the reader is left fully immersed in the tragic unfolding of events that May night in 1962. Currently available on Amazon.

 

61 years

 This May 22nd marks 61 years since the downing of Flight 11. -Lest we forget. 

Missouri Life article for 60th anniversary

 Hi folks, I hadn't seen this article till now which appeared in Missouri Life last year for the 60th anniversary of Flight 11 by Dan Steinbeck. See link for the article. 

https://missourilife.com/the-crash-of-flight-11/

60 years...

 This May 22nd marks 60 years since Continental Airlines Flight 11 took to the skies only to result in tragedy. As this is a significant anniversary in terms of years, the impacts of Flight 11 still affect people just as badly as they did when the crash occurred and any anniversary naturally will always be "significant" to anyone involved. It is still my intention to update this blog every year as long as I'm alive. 

Andrew Russell. 

60th anniversary

 It has come to my attention that Maribeth DeHaven of the Putnam county historical society is hosting a 60th anniversary luncheon on May 22nd this year.  She can be contacted for further details as follows:

beth007@nemr.net

59th anniversary

 This May 22nd marks the 59th anniversary of the crash of Continental Airlines Flight 11.  Since the last post in 2020 the world has seen much upheaval caused by the Covid 19 pandemic. I do hope all of you are safe and healthy in these difficult times. 

58th anniversary

This May 22nd marks the 58th anniversary of the tragedy of Continental Airlines Flight 11.

A concurrent tragedy

It has been brought to my attention by an Iowa -based writer that around the same time as the crash of Flight 11 there was also another unhappy tragedy unfolding in the rural Heartland of the USA. On May 27th, 1962, a man named Gayno Smith murdered five persons (his Uncle and his Uncle's family) in a farm house at Hedrick, Iowa. He was later found by a posse from the Appanoose County Sheriff's office. Over 100 men were part of the manhunt which was already weary from the aftermath of the crash of Flight 11.

They found Gayno hiding out in a barn at Lake Wapello, Iowa which is coincidentally where a lot of wreckage from Flight 11 was found just days earlier. Also near Lake Wapello is the rural town of Unionville, Iowa not to be confused with Unionville, Missouri.