Yes folks, there’s no living with me now. I’ve had my Andy Warhol designated 15 minutes of fame. I made it onto a TV show.
If you watch the show Air Disasters on the Smithsonian channel I am featured in the episode “Terror Over Michigan” (Season 17, Episode 6) as the “former 727 pilot”. Note that in some countries the show is called “Mayday” or “Crash Investigation”.
www.smithsonianchannel.com/...
So how did I end up on television? Apparently the Toronto based producer of the show read my Kos diary from years ago about flying the 727 and tracked me down. We did an online interview about a year ago and he thought I came across well enough to be in the show.
Last June they sent a cameraman and sound guy (that’s my highly technical term) down to Columbus Ohio and set up a little studio in a hotel conference room. I showed up in my best suit and the producer interviewed me over video.
To get the 5-10 minutes of me you see in the show they did over an hour of interview. I thought it was a real treat to go behind the scenes and see how the “sausage is made” in television.
Note that I only wish I looked that good in real life. I’d love to hire those guys to just follow me around and make me look good.
I won’t give away too much of the plot but the episode deals with TWA Flight 841 which departed controlled flight over Michigan in 1979 and sparked one of the most extensive NTSB investigations ever.
I read everything I could find about the incident and I can’t tell you exactly what happened any more than anyone else can. One story (which I had heard years ago) blames the crew. Another blames Boeing for a design flaw in the 727. I read the very lengthy NTSB report and it’s inconclusive. Watch the episode and decide for yourself.