In my recent trip to Washington state to see my father and do some family history research, my father gave me some older black-and-white negatives that I’ve been scanning and archivally rehousing. Quite unexpectedly, I found eight photos from 1965 or 1966 of my uncle Gary with the very plane whose crash claimed the life of his flying instructor and very nearly killed my uncle as well (for details on that crash, see my earlier post on the topic).
I compared the plane’s registration number (easily visible in several of these new photos) to that on record in the NTSB report of the crash, and saw that it was an exact match—N5472E. It was eerie realizing that this was the same plane that would almost take his life just a few months, weeks, days, or perhaps even hours after these photos were taken.
This next photo was the last in this series, but if the plane is there, I can’t see it.
If Gary or anyone else reading this post can tell me what airport this is, who the two children are, an estimate of the date of these photos, or anything else I didn’t mention above, please let me know by leaving a comment below.
He left from Van Nuys airport and went to Ojai to land as a solo event. His instructor died in the crash and I was pregnant with you probably 6-8 months. He was in the Ventura hospital for a few days until they could move him to Valley Presbtyerian.
The airport is Van Nuys Airport. The children are Richard (the oldest) and David Gullixson, our neighbors for many years. I’m not sure of the date, but the control tower is under construction which might give you a clue.