This month marks the one year mark of this project. My best guess is that I'm looking at another twelve to eighteen months before I'll have a marketable manuscript. Writing a book takes time. Writing a good books takes longer. A year ago all I knew about Hoot Gibson was that he was the guy who …
An alternate theory
As a writer working on a story about an accident investigation, my goal is to present the facts and let the reader decide whether or not the conclusions of the NTSB and Boeing were correct or not. I want to tell the story of what happened in a compelling but unbiased way. The evidence presented on …
The scales of justice
The civil trial of Holly and Tim Wicker vs. TWA and Boeing determined liability and damages. The attorney representing the plaintiffs was a very competent attorney for criminal defense by the name of Charles Hvass. As a lawyer representing clients against two deep-pocketed defendants, Charles Hvass …
Why it matters
I started the research phase of this project a year ago this November. Since that time I've had a chance to talk to a lot of people about what they think about the crew's involvement. I have not talked to anyone who believes that the crew did what The NTSB and Boeing alleged. After nearly a year of …
Who exactly was on trial?
The civil trial held in May and June of 1983 was against Boeing and TWA. They were the defendants in the case. The reality, however, was that the crew of TWA 841 was also on trial. If Boeing and the plaintiff's attorney could show that the crew was responsible for the upset, as had already been …
The crew gets a retrial
Two years after the NTSB accused the crew of having caused the upset that nearly resulted in the deaths of 89 passengers and crew, the flight crew was given a second chance of sorts to clear their names. That opportunity came in the form of a civil trial. A number of TWA 841 passengers had filed …
