New Zealand Aviation News July 2012 Issue

The July 2012 issue of New Zealand Aviation News will feature my article detailing the 50th anniversary commemorations of Flight 11 in Unionville, Missouri.

The article also includes colour photographs.

Their website is: http://www.aviationnews.co.nz/

First fatal crash for Continental Airlines

I had it confirmed by Ralph Boester who I've been in contact with (he worked at Continental and was a check-in counter agent amongst many other things at Chicago the night of Flight 11) that the sabotage and crash of Flight 11 was Continental's first-ever fatal incident. Until then Continental hadn't lost a single soul due to a crash or otherwise.

Flight 11 once again has another "first" in terms of historical importance.

Jon Sperry

A gentleman by the name of Jon Sperry has contacted me and sent me some photos that his Uncle took of Flight 11 following the crash. His Uncle (who is unfortunately no longer with us) was a Kirksville, Missouri highway patrolman. It's not known when these photos were taken (see below post) but I thought it prudent to upload two of them that detail the telescoped forward section of the fuselage (around the point of the wings forward) and also detailing the crash site as seen from the track driving to it.

For the families of those who went to the crash site in May 2012 you will know what I'm talking about when you see the second photo below and the distinctive treeline that runs all the way down from where we stood to about just past where the nose section of the fuselage would have been. You can also detail the spot on the far left that includes a cluster of cars (where we all pulled up in our vehicles and former schoolbus) and to the mid-right of the treeline are lots of people standing around who would have come up from the other side of the track in the opposite direction from which we came. 

I decided to upload these two photos as I felt they did not depict anything that wasn't/couldn't be seen in the photos at the Appanoose Historical Museum or any of the recent media articles (Alan Zagier and Joanathan Bender articles) about the crash and memorial or indeed a basic Google search. 

I do not believe these photos will cause any offence but if they do to anyone please contact me immediately and I shall remove them.

I have taken the liberty of forwarding them onto Maribeth DeHaven at the Putnam County Historical Society for her records and for the records of the Historical Society so that they may be filed away for safekeeping to add to the Flight 11 collection there in Unionville.  

 

Photos from Jon Sperry

I have been trying to decide whether or not to upload a couple of photos sent to me by Mr Jon Sperry whose late Uncle was a highway patrolman based out of Kirksville, Missouri. His Uncle took the photos of the crash site of Flight 11 and Jon scanned them through to me a few days ago. They had been sitting in an attic on some old original slides.

I have now seen that other crash-site photos have emerged in the press with the Alan Zagier and Jonathan Bender articles so I think it prudent to place them up here as there is nothing here that can't be seen elsewhere. They are pretty "run of the mill" and what you can see elsewhere.  The photos detail the compacted nature of the forward fuselage around the wing-section (1) & secondly the fuselage in relation to the tree line at the crash site with rescue helicopter (painted bright orange and black) parked to the far right (2).

Many thanks to Jon Sperry for these precious and unique photos of N70775. We have no dates for these photos by the way and Jon's Uncle is no longer with us to confirm details.