Pan American clipper, Vol. 24, No. 4, July 15, 1965

              "No Hero's Hat" For Me: Kimes
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“To Captain Charles H. Kimes and his gallant crew, whose masterful feat of airmanship aboard Pan American World Airways Flight 8U3 on June 28, 1965— exhibiting extra­ ordinary skill, faultless coordination, and equanimity under pressure— not only averted a possible disaster, but reflected the high level of training and competence common to those who fly the Nation’s fleet of commercial airliners. The exemplary efficiency and speed w ith which the entire crew evacuated 11/-3 passengers warrants the admiration and gratitude of civil aviation and the American public.”
Citation signed by FAA A dm inistrator Najeeb Halaby -------------------------------------------By Robin Kinkead
In th e first th ree days follow ing th e episode of F lig h t 843 and its sp ectacu lar take-off from San F rancisco a irp o rt Ju n e 28, scores of passengers on th e W est Coast and in H aw aii sw itched th e ir bookings from o th er ca rrie rs to P an Am. “If your pilots are th a t skilled and your Boeing airplanes th a t good, we w an t to fly w ith you” was th e ten o r of th e ir rem arks. Thus th e outcome of w h at th e daily press term ed a “m iracle landing” only added to P an Am’s p restig e as th e w orld’s m ost experienced. The sag a of J e t C lipper F rien d sh ip , F lig h t 843, a irc ra ft N76LPA, has been told over and over, in new spapers, over radio and TV, and in “Time” and “L ife” m agazines since Monday, Ju n e 28, when it took off fo r H aw aii. The flight le ft the blocks a t 2 P.M. w ith 143 vacation-bound passengers and a crew of 10, un d er command of C aptain C. H. “Chuck” Kimes. On th e take-off a t 2:12 P.M. ev erything was ro u tin e as the a irc ra ft reached ro tatio n speed. C aptain Kimes had given the take-off to F ir s t Officer F red M iller. S hortly a fte r the take-off . . . m oments even . . . th e cockpit crew fe lt w h at they described variously as “a sh u d d er” and “an explosion.” B uffeting began. The No. 4 fire w arnings w ent on. T he th ro ttle s jerked. No. 4 engine in stru m en ts showed it was out. Kimes took over th e controls and was briefed by M iller, in the rig h t hand seat, th a t som ething had happened to the wing tip. Kimes said th a t here th e m any hours of tra in in g came in strongly. He reacted alm ost by reflex action. U sing left ru d d er and ailerons he got the ship u n d er control, still not knowing ju s t w h at had happened on th e rig h t w ing tip. M eanwhile he had issued M aydays to clear the a ir and ru n ­ ways. He headed out on his p ath over th e ocean and m ade the decision to head fo r T ravis A ir Force Base. It has an 11,000-foot runw ay versus 9,700-feet a t San F rancisco and adequate equip­ ment. In th e m eantim e he got on th e horn to th e passengers and made a rem ark th a t is becoming fam ous. As passengers recalled, it w ent som ething like t h i s : “Ladies and gentlem en . . . we’re having some m inor trouble . . . well p erhaps it isn ’t so m inor.” In spite of th e tenseness, fo r passengers th ro u g h o u t the plane had seen flames and smoke on th e rig h t w ing tip, th is bro u g h t a relieving laugh. Kimes continued in a calm voice

tici-l orts hear

YOUNG GENTLEMAN FOR THE DAY, 8-year-old Greg­ ory Triolo, son of Anthony Triolo of Production-Control, JFK, wins a special handshake from former First Lady, Mrs. John F. Kennedy. Young Triolo was one of a select few who won special honors in a recent nationwide “Work a Day For JFK” contest designed to raise funds for the John F; Kennedy Library building fund. In his winning letter Gregory wrote: “I am donating a nickel which I earned Sunday . . . for being a gentleman while visiting my aunt.” Mrs. Kennedy m et personally with all the winners at a specially-arranged luncheon.

Inaugurate Jet Service To Prague
We will begin service to P ra ­ gue, Czechoslovakia, Ju ly 16, W illis G. Lipscomb, Senior Vice President-Traffic and Sales, an ­ nounced. This is th e first service by a U.S.-flag c a rrie r to a Commu­ nist-bloc country since P an Am discontinued its P rag u e flights 15 years ago. Since Czechoslovakia relaxed its visa regulations recently, an influx of to u rists and of Czechoslovak-A m ericans has begun and a su b stan tial traffic potential has developed. O ur J e t C lippers take off from JF K on W ednesday and F rid ay s a t 9 P.M., stop a t Prestw ick, Scotland, the follow ing m orn­ ing a t 8:15, and arriv e a t P ra ­ gue a t 11:20 A.M. The a irc ra ft tu rn s around in P rague, tak in g off T hursdays and S aturdays a t 2 P.M., tra n s it­ ing P restw ick a t 4:20 and a r ­ riving a t New York a t 7 :25 P.M.

Gray Urges Fourth N.Y. Area Airport

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Captain Harold E. Gray has called for an immediate start in planning for a fourth major jet transport airport to serve the growing needs of New York’s metropolitan region. He also urged “sound clearways” be established in areas

Name Milley Services VP
H erb ert F. Milley has been elected to the new position of Vice P resident-S ervices, it was announced by W illis G. Lipscob, Senior Vice P resid en t Traffic/Sales. Mr. Lipscomb said the ap­ pointment reflects P an Am’s continuing em phasis on the im­ portance of ground and in-flight service to passengers and ship­ pers. He noted Mr. M illey’s long and successful experience in this field of activity. Mr. Milley was form erly Vice President-Sales and Services. In his new capacity, he will make his h ead q u arters a t Kennedy International A irport, center for P an Am’s overseas opera­ tions. Pan Am’s A rea Sales M an­ n e r s fo r N orth Am erica, Latin America, A tlan tic A rea and Pacific A rea, and th e M anagerMilitary Traffic, will re p o rt di­ rectly to Mr. Lipscomb.

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n ea r airp o rts to prevent the construction of homes in areas w here residents would later be­ come annoyed by a irc ra ft noise. In addition he called fo r govern­ m ent to “take a new look a t the m any opportunities which exist fo r im proving the route stru c ­ tu re of U.S. F lag airlin es.” Speaking a t the annual avia­ tion luncheon of the Queens C ham ber of Commerce, Capt. Gray said New York’s fo u rth je t tra n sp o rt airp o rt should be ready to greet the age of su p er­ sonic je t tran sp o rts ju s t as Idlewild was ready to launch New York into the je t age. W hile acknowledging th a t the need fo r an additional m ajor a irp o rt was still in the fu tu re, he said it would take 10 years, sta rtin g today, to develop a fo u rth airp o rt. “And so, tom or­ row may be too late to make this s ta rt,” he em phasized. P an Am was the first airline to place orders fo r the B ritishF rench Concorde supersonic je t tran sp o rts, expected to be ready fo r delivery in the early 1970’s. The company was also the first airline to launch the commer-

O o o o p s!
Our amazing Panamac res­ ervations system suffered a slight case of electronic in­ digestion recently and came up with a request that may send Volkswagen designers back to their drawing boards. Our Copenhagen office re­ ports an electronically com­ posed Panamac reservation for a self drive Volkswagen— with one extra bed. It follows that there must have been a customer somewhere in the system who was out of a bed that night. Bet they never guessed where that bed finally turned up!

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WITHOUT A HERO’S HAT, Captain C. H. “Chuck” Kimes is decorated by Federal Aviation Agency Administrator Najeeb E. Halaby for his “m asterful feat of airmanship.”