J Edgar Hoover & other interesting facts

Many thanks to Chris Baird for re-sending me some vital scanned documents re United Crash near Chesterton. I have been scanning over them intently and see that J. Edgar Hoover was head of the FBI at the time.

In addition he was also in charge of tying up some of the loose ends of the investigation but most of the interviews with persons of interest and United were conducted by M.H. Purvis out of the Bureau's Chicago offices. Other field agents scanned the USA far and wide for witnesses etc.

Of interesting note are the fact that there were many conspiracy theories regarding the downing of the plane.

Some said one of the pilots didn't want to be part of a union and that may have been a motive; also that one of the female passengers had links with a gambler who met "tough looking Italians" at an airport shortyl before the crash. United also carried prisoners during the 1930s. Others point to a Mr Emil Smith as having underworld or illegal connections in Chicago.

It really is such an interesting snapshot of the era besides the sad read it makes.

United also estimate the damage as being around $62,321.69, an astounding amount for 1933.

Much focus zoomed in on threats made against the co-pilot (Mr Ruby) and there is a memorandum indicating that the aspect would be further researched.

The FBI agents in Chicago also sent memorandums to J. Edgar Hoover urging that the crash be more fully investigated as there was undoubtedly some criminal element that placed explosives aboard the plane.

The FBI was also concerned about the press publishing the fact it was a suspected bomb long before the FBI had gone public with the information.

The FBI also list a number of passengers who had flown on the ill-fated aircraft from October 1933 up until the crash. The records indicate the plane had made extensive journeys with a particular concentration on Newark-Cleveland and Cleveland-Chicago routes.

Any passengers who had changed their tickets for any reason were heavily pursued in a line of inquiry as to why they had done so.

It seems one man who missed the flight was interviewed extensively by the FBI as well. He was a treasurer for a company and observed that there was no security at the airport when he finally did get there.

It seems a thorough background check and investigation including lengthy interviews were conducted with a great number of people who had previously traveled on the plane with the FBI even sifting through their business affairs, personal lives and reasons for travelling.

There is also a bluntly worded reminder from J. Edgar Hoover to a field agent to San Francisco to put more urgency into the matter of interviewing suspects connected with the flight.

They even went so far as to interview a man who had been working at the Chinese Consulate.

No stone was left unturned.

But eventually the FBI had to close the case after exhausting all avenues and coming to dead ends.

Some diagrams make for very interesting viewing of the plane and wreckage portions etc.

There's also mention of a psychic who claims to have known details of the crash. The psychic's ad claims to be able to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics and so on. Interesting era indeed!

At any rate the first-ever sabotage of a plane in American history remains unsolved.