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Posted: 12/31/1969 Name: Ross Hall Message: Paul Johnson, Ranger Bob Suchke has a big firewood business right here in River City. I'll email him to get in touch with your family. |
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Posted: 12/31/1969 Name: ron rice Message: to cathy b it is ronricewv@aol.com thanks for asking rice |
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Posted: 12/31/1969 Name: Runyon Message: Happy Thanksgiving to all you tracking Rangers abroad. Thanks for the friendship and support. Anyone needing a rest stop in Kabul drop me a line. RLTW |
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Posted: 12/31/1969 Name: Joe Mattison Message: As a final note on this incident that happened here in Buffalo, allow me to also say, that the Buffalo Airport and the crews that fly into this airport are some of the best in the country. Buffalo very often, gets what is known as the "lake effect" weather, and what would normally shut down an airport anywhere else in New England, the Buffalo airport remains open. Very rarely, do you ever hear of the Buffalo airport being closed due to weather. It's almost like hearing about the Super Bowl being cancelled, it's about that often. Over the many years, including my 25+ in the Army, I have flown in and out of the Buffalo Airport many times, and never gave it a thought or concern because of the quality of the flight crews who are especially trained for this airport and the performance of the airport personnel in keeping the airport open. The Buffalo airport is very often, flight instrument landing only, and as I said before, the aircrews who fly here are regulars with this airport and spend a lot of time in "simulation" training for the winter effects. As a case in point, the weather was so bad on the night that we arrived, I went out into the parking lot, got our Jeep, and picked up Jan at the baggage terminal. We then drove our 90 miles back home to Wellsville, and all of it was in 4 wheel drive High and Low depending on the road conditions. It's always been amazing to me that the Buffalo airport stays open during weather like that. The initial thinking about the crash that happened is "ice buildup". The plane originated in Newark, NJ and flew through the bad winter weather all of the way to Buffalo. By the time it got to the Buffalo airport, it was probably all iced up. The aircraft was a smaller, twin engine, propeller aircraft that's used quite a lot up here in New England between major cities and short distances. If you ever have to fly into or out of Buffalo, NY, please be assured that you really are in the hands of the very best commercial airline crews for winter, instrument landings and takeoff. For us who live here, we don't even think about it, for many who aren't used to it, I can understand the disbelief. As a final note on all of this, the crash is the only one that anyone can remember with regards to commercial aviation in and out of Buffalo. Given the many decades of commercial flight, and all of the "lake effect" weather that I can think of in my 54 years of life in and area, and those memories of my more senior family members who are in their late 80s, I'd say it's a pretty remarkable achievement. Just an interesting postscript collection of notes that I thought some of you may find interesting while I ramble on at this time of the day, watching our 5 year old, eating dry cereal and watching the "smurfs". Stay safe Rangers, where ever you are. Take care Joe |
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Posted: 12/31/1969 Name: ~C Message: Well, geez....if Cathy's going to Open House this year, I guess I need to! What time are you planning on being there, Cathy? |
