Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
Posted by Larry Jordan on March 4, 2015, 9:38 am
I was quite amazed to read this morning's news that the National Transportation Safety Board is seriously considering re-opening the investigation into the cause of the 1959 plane crash that killed musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson after they played a gig at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa.
My dear friend Bob Hale, a longtime journalist who still does work for the regional magazine I publish and radio show I produce, was the emcee at the Surf the night the performers played the last show. In fact, Bob just appeared on our radio show a couple of weeks ago to provide more "insider" information about that night. Bob is the one that flipped the coin to decide who the fourth passenger would be that night. Although Tommy Allsup, Holly's guitar player, won the toss, he balked at paying $36 toward the cost of the charter flight, and relinquished his seat to Richard Valens.
For years the cause of the crash has been blamed on the pilot, 21-year old Roger Peterson. He was only qualified to fly by visual flight rules (VFR) like Jim Reeves, and had failed an instrumental flight test nine months earlier. Yet he idiotically took off around 1 a.m. in a snowstorm with high winds and 15 degree temperatures, knowing full well that the weather conditions were likely to deteriorate during the two hour flight. He had just worked a 17 hour day.
Besides the strong probability that he became disoriented in the snowy darkness soon after take-off, he had most likely misread the altitude indicator, which was different than the one on which he had trained, and inadvertently brought the plane down instead of up.
Indeed, the accident report states: "The high gusty winds and the attendant turbulence which existed this night would have caused the rate of climb indicator and the turn and bank indicator to fluctuate to such an extent that an interpretation of these instruments so far as attitude control is concerned would have been difficult to a pilot as inexperienced as Peterson. The airspeed and altimeter alone would not have provided him with sufficient reference to maintain control of the pitch attitude. With his limited experience the pilot would tend to rely on the attitude gyro." The trouble was that this was an "instrument with which he was not completely familiar. The pitch display of this instrument is the reverse of the instrument he was accustomed to; therefore, he could have become confused and thought that he was making a climbing turn when in reality he was making a descending turn. The fact that the aircraft struck the ground in a steep turn but with the nose lowered only slightly, indicates that some control was being effected at the time."
His boss, Jerry Dwyer of Dwyer Flying Service, has disputed the findings of the crash for years. Bad for business, you know.
When the bodies were found with the wreckage in a farm field the next morning just five miles northwest of the Mason City, Iowa airport, Buddy had $193 on his person. The coroner removed $11.65 for his own fees, literally picking the pocket of a dead man. Disgraceful.
According to this morning's news, the NTSB has agreed to consider another investigation after receiving a letter from L.J. Coon.
He's described by press accounts as "an experienced pilot from New England" who contends there were other issues the board should investigate, including weight and balance calculations, fuel gauge readings and a rudder.
Give me a break. "Other issues"? Weren't there already enough reasons to believe the plane obviously crashed due to the gross incompetence of the pilot?
If all it takes is a mere letter to the NTSB to re-open an investigation that has few mysteries remaining, I guess I should write a letter to the feds as well to ask them to re-open the investigation of Jim's plane crash, that occurred on Friday, July 31, 1964. The circumstances of his and Dean Manuel's deaths are still shrouded in mystery to a great extent, particularly the crash aftermath. As readers of my 672-page book, "Jim Reeves: His Untold Story," know, I devote two chapters to this tragedy.
Despite the fact that Nashville Controller John Hettish pinpointed the precise spot on his radar where the plane went down, authorities claimed they couldn't find the wreckage for two days, and misdirected search efforts to an entirely different location, while sealing off the narrow street that ran past the woods where Reeves' plane went down. A neighbor who was never interviewed by investigations or the press, spoke out for the first time in an exclusive interview videotaped for my book. He saw the plane in the seconds before the crash, and described in detail its behavior -- which confirmed the reconstruction of events that I had done with the enormous help of Jim's charter pilot, Bill Larson, who worked for Eastern Airlines for 30 years. Wiley Toombs, the witness, said that moments after the crash, commuters who were driving in rush hour traffic along Franklin Road around 5 p.m., were pulling into his yard, getting out of their cars, and dashing across his property (even knocking down a fence) to get to the woods just to the north. He insisted that people knew IMMEDIATELY after the crash where the plane could be found. Yet the Nashville media played along and dutifully reported what they were told to report — heedless of what airport officials were trying to tell searchers: LOOK JUST SOUTH OF THE HIGH VOLTAGE POWER TOWERS AND IN THE WOODS. Internal memoranda I obtained from the airport showed that by Sunday morning, they were so perplexed and frustrated by the lack of progress in the search efforts, that the airport manager and his colleagues were getting ready to drive down to the woods themselves.
Another irony is that on Friday night, July 31, the search team even assembled at the corner of Baxter Lane and Franklin Road, within sight of the woods. It was later claimed they looked amongst the trees but couldn't find the wreckage but this too is preposterous. As various people I interviewed have attested — including Bill Larson — the wreckage was located just a short distance inside of the small, 2 acre woods. Impossible to miss.
Bill had been at the airport that Friday awaiting Jim and Dean's arrival, when he was called by Hettish and told the plane had disappeared from radar. John vectored Bill to the exact spot, but Larson was unable to see the wreckage from the air due to the dense foliage. Later that night, he accompanied Tennessee Highway Patrolman Truman Clark, who flew a helicopter with search light over the area. They were puzzled to see searchers in an entirely different area, and were informed by radio that the plane had been reported down near Radnor Lake to the northwest. This was an outright lie.
As I further report, two members of U.S. intelligence agencies played key roles in this drama, including the man who allegedly found the wreckage on Sunday, Aug. 2, 1964. All federal agency files have been scrubbed clean with only a brief summary of the crash available. All files in Tennessee, that should still be retained at various agencies, have also disappeared.
The official story is that records of plane crashes are routinely destroyed, but you can go back and read the accident report regarding the death of actress Carole Lombard, that occurred in 1942! You can also obtain the accident reports on the Holly and Patsy Cline plane crashes. But not Jim's. WHY?
When I filed a Freedom of Information Act request, I was informed by the FBI that some of Jim Reeves' records were under seal with Kennedy assassination files, and other documents were destroyed on orders of a judge in Washington AFTER I filed by FOIA request.
But of course none of this is SUSPICIOUS, is it?
You can read the Buddy Holly and Patsy Cline accident reports, but not the Jim Reeves report. Because it's disappeared. However, I was able to gain access to the latter after years of exhaustive searching. It helped me to compile a minute-by-minute account of Jim's fatal flight.
It is is just preposterous that the NTSB would even consider re-opening an inquiry into the crash that killed Holly and the others, when there are no substantive mysteries remaining. But just try to get information out of the feds with regard to the Reeves accident, and the door will be slammed shut in your face.
While they're at it, they should also re-open the investigation into the death of the young woman who waited on Jim and Dean at the small general store, that was located adjacent to the runway at Batesville, Arkansas. That's the place where pilots could refuel. She was the last to see the two men alive, and had been called by the FAA that night to go out and check to see if any planes matched the "N" number of Jim's aircraft. She died mysteriously a short time later when her car was forced off a mountain road by a hit and run motorist. (Parts of another vehicle were found at the scene). Her family still believes there is more to this story. I agree.
So here is yet another example of how something that pertains to Jim Reeves doesn't matter, but when it comes to somebody else in the music business, it's a big deal.
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
Larry, I would love to know more about the mystery surrounding Jim's plane crash and the Kennedy assassination, but not if it risks your life being in danger. You mentioned once that you were ordered to quit investigating it.
I think Buddy Holly's plane crash has no mystery yet it is being re-opened? Wow!
Always for Jim, Doris
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
Larry, given what the government has done so far concerning Jim's crash, I doubt they would agree to reopen the investigation. Influential people obviously have something to hide.
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
There have been such ludicrous things surrounding the deaths of Buddy Holly and the others already. A pistol was found in the wreckage so there was silly speculation about how gun play aboard the plane might have caused it to crash, or the pilot was supposedly forced to take off. Nonsense. The entertainers usually got paid in cash and several carried firearms (as did Jim Reeves) for protection.
In 2007, the son of the J.P. Richardson, aka "the Big Bopper" went to the extreme of having his father exhumed, the casket opened, and the remains autopsied to see if there had been foul play! He was born three months after his father was killed, so never laid eyes on his dad until the day the grave was unsealed. It was a circus. Supposedly the Bopper looked surprisingly good after all those years, though if you read the autopsies done at the time of the crash, the trauma the bodies had sustained had already rendered them unrecognizable.
Now this latest silliness whereby an agency of the federal government actually announces it is considering re-opening the investigation of the 1959 plane crash? And what evidence, exactly, remains that was not already examined?
Speaking of which, unlike the Holly crash, and that of Patsy Cline, why has no wreckage from the Reeves accident ever surfaced? Even people close to the investigation whom I interviewed remarked on how oddly this was handled, with one of them claiming the so-called inquiry was a sham. I am aware of ONE person, not known to the public, who has a piece of wreckage, and Ray Baker claimed when he visited the crash site a month later he picked up a piece of a skull bone.
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
It seems very clear to me that an inexperienced pilot flying an aircraft in dangerous weather conditions would most likely be the cause of the crash, unless there are any mysterious circumstances involved that would cause one to believe there were any other contributing factors. From what I've read of the Buddy Holly crash, the other theories as to what might have caused this tragedy are not strong enough, in my opinion, to support a re-investigation into the cause of the accident. There are, however, many unanswered questions as to the true cause of Jim and Dean's plane crash, and why searchers were directed AWAY from where the plane had gone down. None of the pieces here seem to fit together, and if ever there was reason to re-open an investigation, this is it! Add to this the fate of that poor woman who worked at the airport that was apparently run off the road and killed, and you have a REAL mystery that raises many unanswered questions!
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
For an interesting point of view about the Kennedy assassination, I suggest going to Youtube and watching "JFK to 911 Everything is a Rich Man's Trick". It tells the players involved in the assassination and the motives they had.
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
As an fyi, the Big Bopper was exhumed because some of his fans had raised money for a statue of the Big Bopper. The part of the cemetery where he was buried would not allow for a statue, so he was moved to another part of the cemetery where they could have a statue.
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
But they didn't have to open the coffin and look inside to move him. His widow was also moved. His son had a burning desire to see his father, whom he never knew, and he hired a forensic specialist to take Xrays, believe it or not, of the corpse. The details of the multiple fractures of the limbs, the crushed chest, etc. are on the web and you can even see a slide show of the Xrays showing some of the injuries. It's macabre. The son also said at the time that he wanted his father exhumed to explore the possibility of foul play.
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
Supposedly, there were two reasons they did the x-ray - one you mentioned in that they wanted to find out if there was any foul play (bullet wounds) and the other reason stated was they wanted to know if the Bopper had survived the crash. Apparently, the way his body was lying made them wonder if he had survived and was crawling somewhere to get help. Of course, the x-rays showed there were no bullet wounds and he could not have survived the crash because almost every bone in his body was broken.
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
In the buddy holly crash the report indicated that the weather office received at least 2 flash advisories that they did not pass on to the pilot. If the pilot had received this info he may have postponed the flight. Is it possible that jr did not recieve the correct weather info before he took off and again later in the flight? Up to now the assumption is that jim ignored advice but this may not have been the case, hence the need for a cover up by the airport authorities.
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
That last excuse is pure insanity. The mangled, twisted wreckage, the blunt force trauma the bodies had sustained, were all observed at the time the accident location was discovered. The coroner's report made it abundantly clear death had been instantaneous.
BTW, the Big Bopper's only son, who was the driving force behind the exhumation of his father, was sued by four of his half-siblings, who say he improperly instructed the record company -- after the death of their mother -- to divert all royalty payments (amounting to $100,000 a year) to him. The Bopper wrote such songs as "Chantilly Lace" and "White Lightening,"
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
Jim received two weather briefings while still in Arkansas and tower tapes also proved he had received updated weather information by radio while flying home, including from ATC John Hettish in the minutes preceding the crash. John was an excellent pilot and an exceedingly conscientious man who was trying to help Reeves, and cannot be blamed for the accident.
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
He wrote "Running Bear" also.Wow,if his royalties are that large,I'd think Jim's are much more than $100k/year.Of course,lawyers are the only people being significantly enriched by Jim's royalties.Too many nieces and nephews of both Jim and Mary with their fingers in that pie,there's not much to go around.I'd think his children may have a better claim against their father's estate than nephews or nieces would,if his paternity is provable by DNA testing as in the case of the twins born in Colorado.I have a letter about a possible stamp honoring Jim by the U.S. postal service.No date is set,only a statement that he will be submitted for review and consideration to the Advisory Committee.Signed by Krista Becker,manager(A)Stamp Development.USPS.Feb.12,2015.Anita L. Cooper
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
If it were safe to do so,but not if its dangerous.I'd like to get some answers to many questions,but it may still be too risky as some persons involved in both Jim's crash and the JFK assassination might still be alive.The cold case murder of the woman airport manager/store clerk may also be a subject that cannot be investigated for the same reasons as JR's plane crash and the possible tampering that may have happened at the Batesville,Arkansas airstrip. Anita L. Cooper
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
Just to check out if the 9 inch scope was set at the 60mile range the dime sized storm facing jr would be aound 6 miles in size extending slightly to JR's right hence he may have realised the controllers order to fly right or south west was not a good idea. Moreover the rader tends to show the centre of sctivity and the actual storm conditions can extend someways beyond. Interestingly the plane located blip is typically a quarter inch or just over 1.5 miles which was then over traced with the map giving limited search accuracy to the searchers.
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
You brought all this up before Rodney, and it was shot down by Bill Larson, Jim's charter pilot (as well as a veteran pilot of 30 years experience flying for Eastern Airlines). HE WAS THERE that day and was the first to get airborne after Jim's plane disappeared from radar. He nows EXACTLY what equipment Berry Field was equipped with. I wish you would quit posting misinformation on this subject. It just confuses people.
Furthermore, the storm was NOT off to Jim's RIGHT, and he was NOT advised to turn southwest.
You are also forgetting that there is precise information in my book gleaned from the OFFICIAL government accident report specifically stating the size of the storm, etc.
I appreciate your interest in the subject but your conjecture contradicts known facts.
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
Ultimately, I guess the only people who know why the decisions were made are jr and dean and like most crash pilots they are not with us to put their views over.
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
It's been 50 years now since this tragic accident. Why on earth should the NTSB even bother re-investgating this accident? The cause has long since been established...inclement weather and pilot error. And that's just exactly what I believe happened. As hard as it is to believe, our man J.R. was a very inexperienced pilot, and got himself caught in a weather situation he couldn't handle. But I'm definitely curious of the location of that wrecked Debonair. I'll almost bet, the wreckage didn't make it to the local landfill. And this ongoing mystery between Jim and Uncle Sam. The federal guys arriving at the crash site forcing search and rescue to look elswhere, and the mysterious death of the lady in Batesville. This is all the makings for a very good book to read!J.Peterson
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
Let's not forget the two FBI agents that showed up at Dean Manuel's home and started questioning his widow, Bobbie, about any connections Dean may have had to organized crime (or so they suspected)!
In my book I take the position that the most likely cause of the accident was three pilot errors that Jim made, which sealed his fate. However, we can never been 100% certain that there weren't other factors involved. If someone wanted to sabotage the plane (and the young woman at the Batesville airport who was killed may have been in a position to have seen someone around Jim's plane), all you'd have to do is drop an egg into one of the few tanks. It would sink to the bottom and not be visible when a pilot did his pre-flight visual inspection of the tank. But it would foul up things later.
The misdirection of search efforts, the sanitization of federal agency files, the destruction of records after my FOIA request, the fact there are still JR records locked up with JFK files, Jim having told people he recognized Lee Oswald as coming to his dances at Dewey Groom's nightclub (that had been owned by Jack Ruby) also is suspicious. Jim played that club often, including the night before JFK was assassinated, and also back on August 9, 1963. Did Jim see Lee Oswald on that occasion? It would be interesting for any Kennedy buffs who are knowledgeable about this subject to see if there is any evidence of where Oswald was on Aug. 9th. We know part of what he did on Nov. 20th but he would have had time to stop off at Dewey Grooms, however briefly.
Jim Reeves was known to have a photographic memory and he would remember fans' names from having met them once years earlier. Witnesses establish he told people the night of Kennedy's murder, upon seeing Oswald's photo on TV, that he recognized that man as having come to his dances.
I am not linking Jim and Dean's deaths to Kennedy, but you have to admit there are a lot of unanswered questions that arouse suspicions.
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
I agree with what you say Larry. Like you said, the premature death of the lady in Batesville is, indeed, coincidental. One can't help but wonder if someone in Nashville or the government wanted Jim to die, if, there was just a hair of chance if the Debonair could have been tampered with while Jim and Dean went about their business while visiting. They surely would not have a had the luxury of time to do the dirty deed, considering Jim was in and out of there within 24 hours. It's hard to fathom that someone In Nashville or the federal government wanted to do any harm to Jim Reeves. I know Jim was a quiet person, and didn't have a lot of friends to socialize with in Nashville, but that's not a logical reason to get rid of a high profile individual. And surely Jim wasn't the best of friends with Lee Harvey Oswald. How could he be...he was a traveling entertainer on the road earning a living. I simply don't understand the government secrecy with Jim Reeves, but they surely are hiding something, as like you've stated, they deliberately re-routed the search and rescue personnel to a different search area while they picked clean the wreckage debris. Did they even take Jim's briefcase, or leave it there amongst the debris? I personally think that the briefcase was full of cash. Now you know that the G-men weren't interested in a briefcase full of cash.....but did Jim's briefcase contain sensitive government documents, and if so, why would he take them with him to Batesville Arkansas? J.Peterson
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
No one is alleging Jim was "best of friends with Lee Harvey Oswald," but if he saw him at a club that had connections to Jack Ruby, that's significant. Other witnesses testified to the Warren Commission that they had seen Lee and Jack together, but the Commission did not put faith in their accounts.
As to your last question about Batesville, a better question is: why would a man like Jim Reeves set up a meeting with a man who was out on bail for the cold blooded murder of an unarmed couple -- a husband and wife -- whom he shot multiple times at point-blank range, then tried to burn their bodies at the time the police (whom I interviewed) arrived on the scene? This guy's business card was also in Jim's wallet, which was recovered amidst the plane crash debris. This man never went to prison, despite three trials, which ended in hung juries.
Furthermore, the land Jim was supposedly looking at in Arkansas is, to this day, SWAMP land. He even told Judy Ford, when he called her, that she would not like the land because it was swamp.
There are big chunks of the puzzle still missing.
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
Any theory re JR's death requires loads of assumptions being made - which usually means the theory doesn't fit. One thing that would add much needed factual data would be the publication of the full transcript of the conversation between jr and the airport with a timeline. Maybe Larry could help with this?
Re: Should we re-open the investigation into Jim's plane crash?
Nice try, but no. It is in aviation jargon that then would be open to amateur interpretation and it would soon spread all over the web and compound the confusion. Plus that's only a small portion of the overall picture, and doesn't give you the political context of what happened to Jim, or the misdirection of the search efforts, the FBI role, the sealing of documents, or the other unanswered questions.
My two chapters devoted to Jim's crash relied on the accident report so the timeline down to the minute is accurate, as it was derived from the time stamped tower tape. I even give you the altitude he was at, the turns he made, the comments he exchanged with the tower operator, plus eyewitness accounts of the plane crashing.