FBI Files from 1933.

It is with extreme thanks to Chris Baird of Arizona Wrecks.com that we have scanned copies of FBI records from the investigation of Flight 23 (known as Trip 23 in those days).

Please follow this link for his summary of the very lengthy and dry findings.

http://arizonawrecks.com/wrecksfromtonymireles/boeing247nc13304page2.html

Chris has been instrumental in obtaining these documents that persisting with archivists and officials to get them.

It would seem that the FBI could only come up with possible scenarios as to who or why the Boeing 247 was brought down out of the sky to an untimely end. Much of the focus centered around passenger Emil Smith and his associations at the time.

The 1930s were quite a different era and it is plausible that any number of criminal or illegal persons and/or activities could have brought the plane down.

Renewed interest in Chesterton crash of 33

It has been brought to my attention by Chris Baird of Arizona Wrecks that author Bryan W. Alaspa has released a book on the sabotage of the United flight 23 near Chesterton Indian.

Bryan's book details the inner workings of the FBI at the time and the involvement of J Edgar Hoover.

The title of the book is "SABOTAGE, A chronicle of the Chesterton Crash".

Bryan's website is here: http://bryanwalaspa.com/

Chris also informs me that a professor Owen Johnson is interested in the crash as well and has been researching it.

Once again anyone with any further information please do not hesitate to contact me or comment on this blog. 

Chris and I would be rather keen to see a memorial for this ultra-important crash in American aviation history. 

As it was the first-ever sabotage of a passenger plane on USA soil it deserved a heck of a lot more attention that it has at the moment. I truly believe that the town of Chesterton should honour this tragic event as it was a defining moment in the history of aviation in the USA and Chesterton happened to be where it unfolded that night.  

First sabotage in American Aviation History

United 23, the Boeing 247 that crashed near Chesterton, Indiana I have had it confirmed from sources as the first-ever sabotage of a commercial airliner in American aviation history.

I therefore CONTINUE to find it amazing that there's nothing about it anywhere and nobody in Indiana seems to know anything about it. Crazy considering the historical importance of it.

Velma Scribner's wedding dress

As a slightly unusual post on an aviation related blog, I have come across an article on Clark County, WI records that has been taken from an original newspaper article in 1940.

That newspaper is the Stevens Point Journal of 26 September 1940.

It details the wedding of Velma Scribner and Lawrence J. Harvey in Los Angeles. Velma was of course Alice Scribner's sister (the air hostess) and goes into say that Velma wore the wedding dress that Alice had intended to use back in 1933 had she not been killed over Chesterton, Indiana that fateful night of the crash.

What a lovely thing for the sister to do. At any rate here is the link to the Clark County records: http://wvls.lib.wi.us/ClarkCounty/clark/data/1/bbs39/39895.htm

Alice Scribner's Funeral

In The New Hampshire Telegraph Newspaper dated October 13th 1933 is a sad little excerpt regarding Miss Alice Scribner, air hostess aboard the United Boeing 247 that crashed. Her funeral was officiated by Rev, Roscoe A. Barnes, the same Reverend who was to have married her shortly after the crash that claimed her life. Very sad indeed.

Here is the link to the article: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19331013&id=fgJFAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mLoMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3162,5272157

Look under the "flashes of life" section and it is the first item.

An update, albeit with no further information.

I have been in contact with Chris Baird again and he, like I, cannot find any further information regarding the Chesterton crash. Too much time must have passed now as official records and missing or destroyed and US departments have send him on a wild goose chase between one another for records that we have concluded no longer exist due to age.

Such a shame.

The town of Chesterton, Indiana has drawn a blank as well. Anyone who remembers that crash is either dead or must be aged well over 90 by now.

Another thing I am continuing to pursue are any relatives of anybody who was aboard.

Once again official passenger lists indicate the following were aboard that night: (taken from Chris Baird's Arizona Wrecks website.

HAROLD R. TARRANT, chief pilot, 308 West Erie street, Oak Park, Ill.
A. T. RUBY, co-pilot, 320 Wisconsin avenue, Oak Park, Ill.
MISS ALICE SCRIBNER, 26 years old, 1507 North Sacramento boulevard, Chicago, plane stewardess.
FRED SCHENDORF, 28 years old, 6829 Chappel avenue, Chicago, manager of the apartments division of R. Cooper, Jr., Inc., electric refrigerators.
MISS DOROTHY M. DWYER, 25 years old, daughter of M. FRANCIS DWYER, 67 Mount Vernon street, Arlington, Mass.
EMIL SMITH, 911 Argyle avenue, Chicago.
H. R. BURRIS, of Columbus, O., radio service employee of United Air Lines.

Contact with another Aviation Enthusiast

The creator of a website called www.arizonawrecks.com has contacted me regarding the crash of the United Boeing 247 near Chesterton. Chris Baird and I have exchanged emails/blog posts and both of us have concluded that, after extensive enquiries, that at this stage we have drawn blanks on shedding any further light on this crash. However Chris does have a few more photos than I do on his website so check it out (as per above link).

I will continue to hunt for information in the meantime but after so many years I doubt we will get very far unless we attempt to identify and contact the Scribner family or the families of anyone else who was aboard. I mention the Scribner family the most as there is the most information available publicly on them.