[ Post a Response | Pan Am Stories Message Board ]
Posted by Ken Baker
on 11/14/2008, 11:58 am, in reply to "Re: Info needed for PA B707 'Clipper Malay' crash Caracus 12/12/1968"
209.172.24.56
Brian---For your information, the Captains name was Sid Stilwough---Don't you know it was tough coming up with a name from forty years ago when I can't remember what I had for breakfast? Have a good one---KB
--Previous Message--
:
: 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
:
:
:
Message Thread:
« Back to thread