Fact Checking Nelson's "Doors Of Death" light aircraft near death experience

[Res Ipsa]

I signed up for (and then canceled) a trial subscription at Newspapers.com. It had at least some issues of the two Millard County papers at the time. I did some pretty wide searches in Utah papers starting from 1/1/1960 to 12/31/1989. No joy.

Now, I don't know whether the collections of the relevant papers at that site are complete for the relevant time period. So the most I can say is I looked and could not verify.

I couldn't find FAA records for emergency landings in 1976.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Can someone make sense of the NTSB's website? I'm on my phone and it's too wonky for me to try to use their search engine right now.

- Doc

[tapirrider]

The pilot of that miraculous flight

[DrW]

A six seater plane has aisles?

Hi Lem,

I read it as a small commuter plane with six passengers on board, not a six seat plane.

Hi Res and Lem,

Like Lem, I assumed this story to be about a 6 to 10 place private twin aircraft with piston engines (Piper Navajo or Cessna 402, etc.), flying from SLC to St. George.

Unless this took place long ago, small commuter planes would have had turboprop engines and a co-pilot. There would have likely been fire extinguishers in the engine nacelles, even though turboprops very seldom experience engine fires.

The probability of the events described (e.g., spinning the aircraft as a result of an engine out event) taking place in a professionally piloted and lightly loaded turboprop commuter would be close to zero. Six passengers aboard a 15 passenger Beach 99, or similar, would be such a light load that an engine out could be easily handled by a crew of two in the cockpit. If a plane is mechanically able to sustain controlled flight, under power or gliding, it's likely that a competent aircrew can bring everyone down safely.

Fatal commercial passenger aircraft accident reports are available online, including on Wikipedia. In a cursory inspection looking for turboprop commuter aircraft accidents as a consequence of one engine out, I found none.

Engine out problems? Consider Captain Sully Sullenberger, who ditched an Airbus safely in the Hudson River with both engines out and no serious injuries. This feat was preceded by an aircrew in the 1950s. These guys landed a passenger prop plane in the ocean near Hawaii when two of its four piston engines failed. (Nothing close to Sullenberger's feat, but big news at the time.) Again, no casualties.

[Tom]

Can someone make sense of the NTSB's website? I'm on my phone and it's too wonky for me to try to use their search engine right now.

- Doc

I ran a search here: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/index.aspx

[IHAQ]

Found one incident for that date

https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.avia ... 1778&key=0

It's the only incident for that date in Utah. There is only one other incident for the month of November 1976 in Utah. Nelson's "Doors Of Death" story appears to be a Dunnism.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Found one incident for that date

https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.avia ... 1778&key=0

It's the only incident for that date in Utah. There is only one other incident for the month of November 1976 in Utah. Nelson's "Doors Of Death" story appears to be a Dunnism.

Hrm.

"The Cessna 210 Centurion is a six-seat, high-performance, retractable-gear, single-engine, high-wing general aviation aircraft. First flown in January 1957, it was produced by Cessna until 1986." - Wikipedia

So, a six-seater, but single engine. So close ...

- Doc

[Res Ipsa]

Found one incident for that date

https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.avia ... 1778&key=0

Yeah, found that one. But it was also carried in a local paper. It identified all four passengers -- none of them were Nelson.

Looks like Sheri Dew might have been too eager to give details. I don't see Nelson giving dates.

The problem is, as always, the way memory works. If this happened in 1976 and the first version we have is from 2003, Nelson almost certainly misremembers details important to finding confirmation of the incident. That's especially true if he's been telling the story for decades. The brain changes the memory every time it is recalled. So, it's very possible that the "sting" of the story (he thought he was going to die but was at peace) actually happened, but details are misremembered. People's recollection of dramatic events changes over time, especially if they think or talk about them frequently. That's just how brains work.

[Res Ipsa]

Found one incident for that date

https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.avia ... 1778&key=0

It's the only incident for that date in Utah. There is only one other incident for the month of November 1976 in Utah. Nelson's "Doors Of Death" story appears to be a Dunnism.

in my opinion, the date is the least reliable information we have. Nelson himself doesn't mention it. It's second-hand from Sheri Dew.

[IHAQ]

Found one incident for that date

https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.avia ... 1778&key=0

Yeah, found that one. But it was also carried in a local paper. It identified all four passengers -- none of them were Nelson.

Looks like Sheri Dew might have been too eager to give details. I don't see Nelson giving dates.

The problem is, as always, the way memory works. If this happened in 1976 and the first version we have is from 2003, Nelson almost certainly misremembers details important to finding confirmation of the incident. That's especially true if he's been telling the story for decades. The brain changes the memory every time it is recalled. So, it's very possible that the "sting" of the story (he thought he was going to die but was at peace) actually happened, but details are misremembered. People's recollection of dramatic events changes over time, especially if they think or talk about them frequently. That's just how brains work.

I think his first telling of the story was in 1992