Some photos from Flight 11 collection at Putnam County Museum

From my latest trip to Unionville, Missouri.

Sandy Glau

I had the pleasure of meeting former Continental hostess Sandy Glau last Sunday in Denver (April 7). Her and the Allen family and Gray family had dinner in Denver. Sandy saw the flight crew of Flight 11 before they took off for that ill fated flight. Sandy was such a pleasure to speak to. Photos to follow when I return from the USA. Sandy also had a fascinating insight into air travel in the early 1960s and the impact Flight 11 had on them all following the crash. She spoke of the crew as being some of the best at Continental; a wonderful sense of humour and professionalism all the way. Thank you Sandy!!!

Junior Johnson and LaVan Smith

I had the pleasure to speak at the Putnam County Care Facility today in Unionville, MO. I was quite nervous and managed to speak for a fair while with the help of Mr Duane Crawford. I also had the extra special privilege of meeting Mr Junior Jonhson and Mr LaVan Smith both of Unionville. Junior saw a flash in the sky the night of May 22 1962 and subsequently three bodies were found on his property. He also reports finding a plastic aftershave bottle well after the crash in a field. He told me seeing that flash in the sky has bugged him for 51 years.
LaVan Smith remembers assisting in the clean up of the wreckage of Flight 11. He dug out some of the engines with a bulldozer and reported seeing much of the wreckage first hand. Speaking to both these gentlemen was a touching experience and both have been affected for the rest of their lives by Flight 11. Junior also added that he was meant to head north to pick up a tractor the morning after and the road looked like it had been heavily worn down with all be response traffic. His house at the time was more or less right under the flight path of Flight 11. A truly remarkable experience.

Mystery

Ronnie Cook, 17 years old at the time of Flight 11, and the first person to discover the wreck with his Dad, has informed me of a little known mystery regarding Flight 11. His father and him drove to the state line to bring back the first response to the wrecked aircraft. On the first trip back to the site they encountered a car with a man and someone from KSO is Des Moines. Ronnie informs me this was a radio station at that time. He says that a man in that car, probably from KSO, took the first ever pictures inside the wreck of the aircraft. Those pictures were never released and Ronnie never knew what to make of the man who took them. But he said they would have been the first snaps taken of inside the wrecked 707. If anyone knows anything of KSOs mysterious involvement get in touch. Of course the strangest thing is how would a Des Moines radio station get wind of the crash so quickly and of the precise location; and why were pictures taken that disappeared from sight and have supposedly never been handed over or released...interesting.

Alan S. Boyd

Tim Duley, the son of Flight 11s gate agent, has visited with Alan Boyd, the chief board member for the civil aeronautics board at the time of Flight 11. Mr Boyd who is now aged in his 90s very graciously agreed to speak with Tim. He didn't have anything new to add but he remembered Flight 11 and was happy to see that a memorial had been created. Mr Boyd did not actually go to the crash site but he oversaw the writing of the report. Many thanks to Tim Duley for arranging this meeting.

Drop down oxygen masks

A question which has left me wondering for years now (literally a decade) has finally been answered by Sandy Glau, a former Continental Airlines Boeing 707 stewardess.

The 707-120s that Continental were flying originally (1959-era machines) did indeed come with the typical drop-down style oxygen mask system that you would find today on any modern airliner.

The usual scenario is that in an explosive decompression the duty of cabin crew was to ensure people had their masks on while keeping passengers calm at the same time- this would be no easy task in a jet descending rapidly with flight attendants probably finding it tricky to move with the rapid descent and associated g-forces of that descent. Nonetheless this was the procedure.

It would also be usual for cabin crew to receive further instruction from the flight deck at some point when the aircraft was at a safe altitutde for passengers to breathe without the use of masks.

Flight 11 of course lost its tail at some point during the descent and it is appreciable that cabin-cockpit communications would have been impossible.

A snapshot of Continental pre jet-age

I was fortunate enough to be sent this Continental Airlines staff newsletter from December 1958. It offers an interesting insight into the airline business just prior to the jet age. Robert Six features on the second page. He was CEO at the time of Flight 11, 4 years later. 

Stella Ann Berry

The second cousin of stewardess Ann Berry, Colleen Ringelstetter, has contacted me during her research for information about her family. She knew little of the crash of Flight 11 apart from what she'd heard over the years from other family members. She came across my blog and has given me permission to place a photo of Ann Berry up on the blog.

Updated official passenger list

Due to a gross oversight on my part the passenger list found in one of my earlier posts was missing some names. It has now been updated.

Another Flight 11 family - Miller

Mr Duane Crawford received some very welcome visitors on Monday morning with the arrival of the Brueseke family who have come to Unionville. Barry and Bonnie Brueseke are from San Diego, CA. Bonnie Brueseke (Miller) was only four years old when her Uncle PFC Robert L. Miller was killed in the Flight 11 tragedy.

Robert L. Miller was assigned a seat at the rear of the Boeing 707 as he had injured his leg.

Robert's mother, Ada Miller, had heard about the crash on the 10:30pm news that evening and it was his father that had the grim task of travelling to Unionville to identify Robert's body.

The Brueseke's make yet another addition to the growing list of families coming forward who remember the life-long impact Flight 11 has had on them since May 22, 1962.