UNIONVILLE, MO. -- The community of Unionville commemorates the 50th anniversary of the tragic Continental Airlines Flight 11. To honor their loved ones on the occasion, the victim's families met in Unionville, Mo. to celebrate the lives lost.
On May 22, 1962, a Boeing 707 crashed over the fields of Putnam County, killing all 37 passengers and eight crew members on board. The plane was traveling from Chicago to Kansas City. Now, fifty years later, a Remembrance Service brings the families of the victims together, many for the first time .
"We've made some really lasting bonds I think between families. It's been a great experience from a tragic happening," said Craig Gray, a nephew of Captain Fred R. Gray, an experienced pilot who was in command of Continental Airlines Flight 11 that fateful night. Gray said his uncle inspired his father and himself to become a pilot.
Continental Airlines Flight 11 was no ordinary plane crash. The plane exploded in the sky when a man detonated a bomb mid- flight. The incident is considered to be the first domestic terrorist attack in the United States. It was a devastating blow to the victim's families, and for Frank Weil, it's the reason he never got to know his father.
"I never really knew him but I saw the tragedy and how it was reflected in my family. Obviously, it made a big impact on my life even after all these years. It's very difficult," said Frank Weil, the son of Frank J. Grene, Jr.. who was one of the passengers on Continental Airlines Flight 11. Weil said his father was headed to Kansas City for a business trip.
During the day of remembrance, the victims' families were taken to the crash site, where Ronnie Cook told them his memories of finding the plane around 4 a.m in the fields near his family's farm. He was 17 at the time.
"I walked around and there was that big fuselage and that big black hole. And then we looked for help," said Ronnie Cook. He said many of the other members of his senior class helped rescuers find the pieces of the plane.
During the remembrance service held in the morning, the families got to meet and hear from Andrew Russell, an aviation enthusiast who traveled from New Zealand to Unionville to give a speech during the ceremony. It was his blog post in 2007 that connected the victims families and inspired the creation of a memorial on the Unionville Town Square; with the help of local historian Duane Crawford and donations from the community, that memorial with victim's names engraved was dedicated in 2010. In 2012, an engraving to explain what happened was added to the on the other side.
"I flew 30 hours to get here. I think it's just starting to sink in today at the memorial," said Andrew Russell. "A lot of what I've done is, as I say an accident, and has done this. It's mind boggling. I don't think there's any words or emotions that can describe how I feel."
"The fact that this Andrew Russell from New Zealand was the instigator in some ways, wondering why there's never been a memorial...He has no idea how he has brought families together including our family; cousins who haven't spoken for years," said Robert Gray, another nephew of Captain Fred R. Gray. Craig and Robert said they had not see each other for more than a decade. Robert Gray was 16 when his uncle died. He said he can still remember the night they got the news that the plane was missing, possibly because of bad weather. Gray said his father knew that wasn't the case right away because his brother was an experienced pilot who would not depart in bad weather. It was later that the family learned that the plane crash did not happen by accident.
But, perhaps the most rewarding thing that came out of the 50th anniversary of the tragic flight are bonds that will last forever; the community of Unionville, the blogger Andrew Russell, the local historian Duane Crawford, search team members like Ronnie Cook, and the victim's families were connected for life.
Previous link:
48 years later
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKTVO