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Posted by Ken Baker
on 11/13/2008, 10:21 pm, in reply to "Info needed for PA B707 'Clipper Malay' crash Caracus 12/12/1968"
209.172.24.225
Brian---I don't know if what I have to tell you will help but I did fly with the Captain who was involved in that accident---And for the life of me I can't remember his name---Maybe it will come to me--- (Sewell?)---Some time before that event, I had a trip with him to Caracas and we were to dead-head back to JFK---When we got settled in the cabin he said,"Ken, you can take those epaulets off and we'll have some refreshment on the way back.' Well, I really liked the guy and enjoyed the trip---On the way back, he mentioned that his daughter was interested in becoming a stewardess but I never heard how that worked out. We heard stories regarding that crash and one thing I do remember is that there was mention that there was some kind of argument or loud discussion going on in the cockpit just before the crash--Some blamed the purser that they described as sometimes disgruntled Cuban--We refered to them as 'Cigar Rollers'--but that would have been caught on the controllers tapes. We had a radar altimeter that would signal 2500 feet above the terrain and then the First Officer would reset it to whatever the next altitude was that we wanted to be reminded of---There was some question as to how that was handled.I guess someone in the tower claimed to have heard the warning horn--There's a fella on this site who has more information than any of us has ever seen before and he'll steer you to the answers you seek---His name is Mark Bermudes. Really sorry to hear that one of the fatalities was your dad--I only flew for fourteen years but probably lost fourteen friends and acquaintances----but I'd do it again in a heartbeat---KB
--Previous Message--
: Hi, Im looking for any info on the crash of
: Flight PA217 'Clipper Malay' N494PA from New
: York which crashed on approach to Caracus on
: December 12th 1968.
:
: All I can find on the net is basic details
: of passenger numbers (51, all killed) and
: the time of crash. Also the only details I
: found are 'It undershot into the sea because
: of a possibly sensory illusion caused by the
: upslope of the town lights'
:
: The reason I'm asking is my father was the
: F/O on that flight and next month will be 40
: years since the accident and I want to find
: out more about it.
:
: Does anyone know if there is a full report
: that I can read somewhere?
:
: Thanks
: Brian
:
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