Man Sets Out To Right The (Biased?) Record

One man's determined research into a 38-year-old midair collision may overturn the NTSB's finding that a private pilot's deviation from course was to blame for the tragedy that claimed 82 lives in the skies over Henderson, NC.

The NTSB report issued 14 months after the collision -- one of that agency's first involving a large accident -- placed the blame on the 310's pilot, John David "Dave" Addison, stating the probable cause of the accident was that the twin Cessna "deviated from IFR clearance into flightpath of N68650," -- the Piedmont airliner.

Fast forward to 1998, when Paul Houle (rhymes with 'pool') moved to a suburb of Spartanburg, SC, just 25 miles away from the location of an accident he had read about in a book.

"I remembered Hendersonville from that book," said Houle. "It stuck in my mind because the news stories made a big deal out of the fact that John McNaughton, who'd just been named secretary of the Navy, was on the Piedmont plane with his wife and 11-year-old son — and I was about the son's age when I got the book."

Armed with a degree in history and a knack for research, Houle put together a 35th anniversary commemorative article that was published in 2002 in the Citizen-Times newspaper in nearby Asheville, NC -- the departure point for the Piedmont airliner (file photo of type, right). He also led a successful 2004 campaign to begin construction of a 12-ton granite monument on the site where debris fell -- featuring a bronze plaque with the victims' names.

It was after this Houle began to look into the official report on the accident, and dig even deeper into its history. What he found cast doubt on the entire NTSB report... which is why he is now petitioning the NTSB to amend its initial report, something the agency almost never does.

His evidence is compelling. For starters, Houle cites the crucial fact the NTSB probe into the midair collision was led by one Thomas Saunders, whose brother H.K. "Zeke" Saunders was a VP at the airline.

"There was a conflict of interest," said Houle to the Springfield (MO) News-Leader, "an improper relationship between those two individuals."

Several other facts were omitted from the initial ruling as well, said Houle, including a small cockpit fire (in an ashtray -- remember, this was 1967 and smoking was still allowed onboard airliners, except during takeoff and landing) that preoccupied the flight crew and may have distracted the pilots from noticing the small Cessna.

Records also indicate Addison received confusing messages from ATC, from a controller who was later revealed to have been on the phone while he was directing the 310 -- communications referred to in the initial report as "unintelligible."

Joe Greene, the attorney who in 1967 represented Lanseair -- the company that owned the 310 (file photo of type, bottom) involved in the accident -- supports those findings.

"We got a judge to force (the NTSB) to play the tapes in court," said Greene. "It caught them with their pants down because there wasn't a dang thing on those tapes that was 'unintelligible.' The controller in the tower goofed things up. He was supposed to read back the heading to confirm it. But he just said 'Roger' when Addison told the direction he was going."

The tapes had little impact on the NTSB's findings in 1968. "The investigation seemed loaded from the get-go," said Greene. It was obvious that the NTSB was on Piedmont's side. They treated us like scum."

Houle has submitted his petition to the NTSB, and the agency is reportedly preparing a response.

"I... have a strong belief in truth and fairness and justice," said Houle. "Once I started looking into the factual circumstances of the collision, the NTSB's findings didn't seem entirely truthful, and certainly not fair and just to the three men from Missouri [who were onboard the 310]. I just had to try to set the public record straight for those guys and especially their families."

While Houle hopes the increased attention to the accident will bring about a change in the ruling, researching the accident has already brought a change in his life: the 41-year-old manager of a concrete plant's truck fleet is currently taking an online course in aeronautical management from Embry-Riddle.

Despite his petition, Houle maintains he has a great deal of respect for the NTSB.

"The NTSB has done a lot of good work that has tremendously improved the safety of air travel... and in fairness to the NTSB, I must point out that this accident was its first big investigation. I know their procedures have improved in the years since. But in fairness to the people who died in this accident and their families, I must also make the point that the NTSB should admit if mistakes were made."

"It's the right thing to do," Houle said.

FMI: Read the original 1967 Probable Cause Report