17 Days and 17 Miles Apart

A missing two-cent cotter pin, smaller than a paperclip, can bring down a four-engine airliner and kill hundreds of people. In 1961, only 17 days and 17 miles apart, Trans World Airlines Flight 529 and Northwest Airlines Flight 706 suffered fatal disasters in Illinois. The Lockheed Constellation operated by TWA crashed because of a missing cotter pin, and the Northwest Airlines Lockheed Electra crashed because someone forgot to install a few inches of safety wire. Government officials charged with investigating these crashes reveal why the airlines and their employees took no responsibility for such fatal ineptness. This book tells the story of the ill-fated airliners, how the airlines avoided responsibility, and how the passengers are remembered by next-of-kin after more than 50 years. Readers may discover similarities between the 1961 disasters and the 2019 crashes of two Boeing 737 MAX jetliners that killed 346 people.

Donald J. Porter is the author of six previous books concerning airline safety, business jet development, and military helicopter design. He has contributed to Air & Space/Smithsonian, Aviation Week, Flight International, FlightGlobal and Vertical magazine and has appeared on C-SPAN 2 discussing his books. He lives in Pacific Grove, California.

Donald J. Porter
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 194
Bibliographic Info: 18 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2025
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9606-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5499-7
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
Introduction 5
1. California Bound 9
2. The Crash 22
3. Nightmare 39
4. Smoking Gun 51
5. Who Did It? 69
6. Howard Hughes 79
7. Scary Flights 93
8. Difficult Day 113
9. Coincidence? 126
10. Aftermath 148
Chapter Notes 167
Bibliography 177
Index 181