Patsy Cline: The Flight 38 Years Later

The Flight 38 Years Later
(cont'd)

I was flying and Jeff was taking video. At we lifted off the ground the sun had just gone down below the horizon. There was still considerable light, as we could see much of the activity on the ground. We made a left downwind to runway 22 and headed east. As we headed east we flew over the VOR transmitter station that would have probably been guiding Randy as he navigated east toward Nashville that night. We tuned in the frequency and picked up the signal and flew the same path they probably flew that night.

As we progressed east we could see the surrounding cities and towns as the streetlights and car lights came on. Within about ten minutes, the fading sunlight was completely gone and we were navigating the VOR and flying about 1500 feet, the same altitude they probably had to fly that night due to low clouds. As we progress eastward we could distinguish the towns along the way. We say Trenton, Dyer, Milan, Huntington, Bruceton and finally Camden. When we were about 20 miles west of Camden I thought I could see an area of hazy or foggy sky in front of us. I estimated that it was along about the Tennessee River. That gave me a strange uncomfortable feeling. I said something to Jeff about it and he saw what I was talking about. According to our weather briefing we were not supposed to encounter anything like that. I continued because I knew we were equipped and qualified to switch to instruments at any time. As we neared Camden, the hazy or foggy sky just faded away. Visibility was a good ten miles. The night of the crash it was more like five miles. I could not see any fog once we got over Camden. I don’t know what I was seeing but it seemed to disappear once we got close enough. Maybe it was my imagination playing tricks on me.

We navigated to the crash site as near as possible from our instruments and began looking for ground landmarks. It was very dark out there but I caught a glimpse of the lake that is about a quarter of a mile east of the crash site. From that I could distinguish a streetlight that I had marked in my mind from the ground earlier that day. I continued to circle and we pinpointed the site and shot some video, although I don’t think there is any way it will show anything. We dropped down to about 500 feet above the ground and I kept a watch on the instruments and where I was going and gave Jeff a couple of passes to get video. There may have been people on the ground with lights, but I had to watch where I was going with the airplane and Jeff was videotaping. The area was pretty much pitch black.

After the low passes we continued on to Nashville. We crossed the Tennessee River and saw the lights of Waverly and, somewhat beyond that, the lights of Dickson. We continued, and when we got about twenty miles outside of Nashville I tuned into the Nashville approach frequency to call up air traffic control to get clearance to enter their controlled air space. The traffic on the radio was heavy. There were several airliners arriving and departing Nashville airspace at that time. We called up and the air traffic controller told us to stay clear of the Nashville Class “C” airspace until he could get to us. I thought this would throw us off course and time schedule, but he managed to get back to us before I had to deviate the course. We got our clearance direct to Cornelia Fort and took our path right over the downtown Nashville skyline as we set up for a landing on runway 04. We landed and taxied up to the main building. We got our cameras and the rose and went around to the Cornelia Fort historic sign. After mounting the rose I stepped back and looked at it and said to myself… this one’s for you Hoss!

Bill mounts the rose for Patsy

Jeff

I was exhausted from flying all day and I asked Jeff to take us home after a long day. He kindly obliged.

We dedicated the flight to Patsy, for whom we have a deep admiration. I intend to continue to learn more about the flight that terrible night, but I intend to take a rest from it for a while. I will share anything new that comes along. People have laid the blame at Randy’s feet for the tragedy. Certainly he was the one responsible for making the final decision to go. I really believe he thought he could get himself and the others home safely that night. He just got into a situation over his head before he realized the danger. He was certainly not the first pilot to do that, and unfortunately he will not be the last. I still believe he went into the clouds, unintentionally, and went into a graveyard spiral. A graveyard spiral is when a non-instrument trained pilot is flying along by reference to objects outside the airplane, such as the ground, and inadvertently goes into instrument conditions, which is clouds. Once the pilot goes into the clouds, he tries to fly by his kinetic (inner ear) senses instead of relying on the instruments. Flying blind, the inner ear will play tricks on you and make you think you are flying level when you are actually descending or climbing or any number of other flight attitudes. During a turn, the pilot will think he is descending when he is not, and he will pull back on the yoke tightening the turn, tighter and tighter until loss of control. Without instrument training the average pilot will lose control of an airplane in a little less than three minutes. It is a proven fact. I am satisfied Randy tried to turn the plane around and head back out of the clouds, but lost control before he could make it out. His airplane cruised at 180 MPH. If he went into a graveyard spiral he surely picked up additional speed… maybe as much as another 100 MPH. The clouds were documented as being 500 feet above ground at the time of the crash. At that speed, and descending at a 45 degree angle, the time in which they could have seen anything to realize they were about to crash would have been less than five seconds, if that much. We know he was flying low to start with, so he couldn’t have gone into much of a spiral. After seeing how dark the crash site is at that time of night, I would say they didn’t know they were headed for the ground until they started hitting the tops of the trees. From the first contact with the trees until final impact couldn’t have been more than two or three seconds. For those of you who have wondered, it had to be over quick and sudden. From the post-crash details I have been told, I am satisfied they were all killed instantly. I suspect they went into the clouds and the first sign of trouble was when the heard the tree limbs hitting the plane. It had to be so dark out there that night. From the time they heard the noise it was all over before they could take their next breath.

I take a lot of what follows from the March 7, 1963 Nashville Tennessean account of the crash. They were not found until after daylight the next morning, about 6:00 A.M. The word was out that the plane was missing, and a witness in the report said he heard a dull crash but did not know where it was located. The Civil Air Patrol at Dyersburg was activated and the Tennessee Highway Patrol was alerted. Sheriff’s deputies, Civil Defense and volunteers combed the area, but could not find anything in the dark. The Camden area authorities had an idea where it went down. From all of the reports they had received they figured the site was around a fire tower (that fire tower is still there) out in the Sandy Point area. They were close to right, only the crash was further east less than a mile. Searchers came within a few hundred feet of the crash several times. There was no fire or explosion. The crash was down in a bottom a few hundred yards from what was then Mule Barn Rd, now Mt. Carmel Road. There were reports of hearing a plane with definite engine trouble like a truck that had lost its muffler. I really don’t think there was any engine trouble. A Comanche 250 has a thunderous exhaust sound and flying low like that made it sound probably really loud. There was a report of what they thought was an engine backfire. That could have happened when Randy realized they were coming out of the clouds in a dive and pulled the throttle suddenly to slow the plane down. That will sometimes cause a backfire with a Comanche. Another thing that could have happened is the plane might have inverted due to the loss of control, causing fuel flow to be interrupted momentarily, possibly causing a backfire. Comanches were normally aspirated carburetor fuel systems.

The next morning the crash was found by a local farmer named Hollingsworth. He sent his son to bring the nearby highway patrolman that had been searching. Troy Odle from the highway patrol was the first official on the scene. Before it was over there was a big bunch of people roaming around. Everyone spoke low, almost in a whisper. Fortunately, Stockdale and Milan Funeral Home in Camden had picked up the bodily remains early on before too many showed up. There were cars lining the gravel Mule Barn Road as far as you could see in both directions. Today, you would not get within 50 yards of a crash and there would be guards around the clock until NTSB officials could remove the wreckage. I have deliberately decided to refrain from discussion of too much detail of the remains of the crashed airplane and the people involved out of respect for the families. They have been told and reminded probably too much already. Besides the concern for the families, there is nothing enlightening about the details as it relates to understanding the circumstances of the crash. I really heard more than I wanted to hear about that subject. In trying to learn all I could about the crash, a lot of that subject naturally came up.

It saddens me every time I think about Randy, Patsy, Hawkshaw, and Cowboy (Harold) Copas. I have such deep sympathy for the families that were affected. Patsy’s children lost a mother before they were old enough to understand much. Hawkshaw’s son grew up without his father. His second child was not even born yet. Randy’s wife, Kathy, had to find a way to cope with losing both her husband and her father (her father was Cowboy Copas). I am sure the story could go on and on. I often wondered how things would be if they had not died that night. I guess we will really never know. The old wisdom says everything happens for a reason. I have yet to see any good reason for this to happen.

I wondered how much Randy might have told the others just before the crash. He had to know they were in trouble when he went into the clouds. I would speculate that he said nothing because he had his hands full trying to hold control of the airplane. The last thing you want when you are in trouble is a passenger panic. Again, who really knows for sure?

Jeff and I are delighted to share our experiences with all of Patsy’s fans. I know that everyone wants to know what happened the same as we did. We hope we have helped folks to understand what happened as near as possible. Please understand much of what we have offered is speculation and opinion. No one can truly know what happened that night unless they were in that plane.

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