35 Miles from Shore (40 page)

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When Wilfred learned later that the navigator had inflated the escape chute, he automatically assumed that what he had seen was the navigator sitting atop the escape chute. He assumed that the other survivors were gathered around one of the life rafts that had been dropped.

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Despite numerous attempts to develop such a repellant, none exists.

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The information given to the crews was incorrect. They should have been told that the plane had ditched on the 080 degree radial of the St. Croix VOR.

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A lone survivor in the water is more difficult to locate than survivors huddled together, especially in rough seas.

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Most of the passengers rescued by the Navy helicopter used the rescue sling incorrectly. The helicopter was low enough to the water, however, that it didn't cause a problem.

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Most of those who were at the scene estimated the swells to be eight to ten feet high. Bill Shields claimed that when he was attempting to make the platform pickup that a few of the swells appeared to be above his rotor blades. The rotor blades sit some fourteen feet above the ground, which would indicate that at least some of the swells were up to fifteen feet high.

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There was some speculation after the fact that the man's lip could have been eaten by fish as he floated unconscious in the water.

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A special study conducted more than a year after the accident noted that none of the three aft-facing crewmembers received serious injuries, despite the fact that they weren't wearing their seatbelts. This was the result of the decelerative loads at impact being more uniformly distributed over their bodies. The study went on to say that, “...adequately stressed rearward-facing seats offer a form of maximum body support with a minimum of objectionable restraint. Economic considerations and passenger acceptance have been the major drawbacks in considering the implementation of this safety concept.” (Special Study: Passenger survival in turbojet ditchings (A critical case review) NTSB-AAS-72-2.)

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This conversation is the recollection of Balsey DeWitt. Harry Evans did not want to be interviewed for this book.

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To this day, Rick has scars from where the large needle entered and exited his finger.

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When I interviewed Jim, he still had one of the life vests from that night.

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John Barber would not learn the fate of the man that he had helped rescue until some thirty-plus years later when I interviewed him for this book. Julius Eisenberg was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

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I have found two separate references to Mr. Eisenberg. One reference indicated that his first name was Julius. A second reference indicated that it was Julien. I have chosen the more common Julius.

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Interviews with passengers indicated that at least forty-three people were known to have exited the aircraft. Forty-one survivors were recovered, leaving at least two people unaccounted for.

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Life vests have two inflation chambers. Normally, inflating just one chamber gives sufficient buoyancy. Inflating both chambers can cause many of the problems described by the passengers.

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The life vests contained small lights powered by self contained batteries. Some of the lights were salt water activated while others had to be manually switched on.

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If the recorders were recovered today, there is still some possibility that useful data could be retrieved.

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The errors were attributed mostly due to an incomplete passenger list and the fact that the crewmembers did not go to the hospital, and therefore were not accounted for.

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It's unclear whether the investigators were aware of this rumor. Dick Baker told me that he hadn't heard the rumor. Balsey claims that he first heard the rumor while in St. Croix.

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While the initial conversation with ALM 980 concerning improving weather conditions was recorded, the communication between ALM 980 and the St. Maarten tower during the failed landing attempts was not recorded. The St. Maarten tower operator, Robert Seijkens, gave investigators a transcript that he assembled from memory for that portion of the flight.

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Robby Schouten would eventually continue his search for Margareth on his own, chartering a small boat. He and the boat's captain searched a full two weeks before Robby finally gave up hope of finding his fiancée.

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Balsey gave the investigators the following details: He entered the water at 90 knots, with full flaps, and with the aircraft in a six degree pitch up attitude. He told the investigators that the aircraft remained afloat from between five to ten minutes. He also told them that he believed there was damage to the underside of the fuselage.

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ONA claimed that all pilots and navigators also received an update to their operations manual that explained the navigator's duties in a ditching. Hugh claims that he never received the manual update.

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John Barber didn't receive his medal until after he left the Marines. It was mailed to him.

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Don Hartman flew just one flight after the rescue before being permanently grounded for medical reasons.

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Harry was referring to the fact that he hadn't received training on international procedures. He also hadn't received training on the LORAN. Ed Veronelli was aware of this and that was why he had paired Harry with an instructor.

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This is the closest the NTSB would come to admitting that the crew may not have received accurate weather information from the St. Maarten tower operator. Rumors that the St. Maarten tower operator had been pressured into giving a better weather report than what actually existed were never pursued, even though testimony was given by a pilot who happened to be in the tower at the time, who stated that the weather was far worse than what was reported to the crew.

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A runaway propeller is caused by a failure of the propeller governor, resulting in the propeller exceeding its RPM limits.

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Aircraft making extended over-water flights must carry water survival equipment.

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Life vests can also be inflated manually by blowing into an inflation tube.

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The charts were most likely in the chart book but filed incorrectly.