Aviation Firsts in Missouri

In 2022, there is little remarkable about the aviation industry in the not so great state of Missouri. That is just my opinion, but it is also correct. There isn’t even a major airline with a hub in this state. However, the land within these borders has been host to a surprising number of firsts involving aviation. These firsts are an eclectic collection of achievements by a plethora of differently flavored individuals. A hijacking, a bombing, and a rescue. A president, a senator, and a showmen. A terrorist, a hick, and a racist. Typical Missouri flavored characters. Here are some brief descriptions of their stories that took place for the very first time in the “Show-Me State.”

1. First Aircraft Shot Down: [1910] June 1. Charles F. Willard is shot down while flying his Curtiss biplane over a mining camp in southwestern Missouri. A miscreant wielding what has since been called a squirrel gun fires multiple shots at Willard’s aircraft from a small hill near Joplin. Willard is flying at between 200 and 500 feet when he observed several puffs of smoke coming from an unidentified jackass on the ground. The aviator is forced to land at a nearby rural baseball diamond when one of the shots splinters his propeller, and another damages a structural rib of the aircraft. Willard’s flight was one of a series of demonstrations in the region attended by more than 15,000 people. Less than two weeks later on June 12th, Willard would again suffer a crash while landing at the same series of events. That time however he narrowly avoids flying into spectators, and his biplane is substantially damaged.

2. First Search and Rescue with an Airplane: [1910] June 1. James C. Mars sets out on the first search and rescue mission with an aircraft. He goes looking for Charles F. Willard when the fellow aviator fails to return from his latest ‘cross-country’ demonstration flight. Willard had been shot down by a some dumb bumpkin near Carl Junction, MO in the first apparent shooting down of an aircraft. Mars is able to locate the downed Willard, and land at the same location. Discovering the splintered propeller of Willard’s plane, Mars flies back to the airfield and sends a replacement to Willard’s location by car. After repairs are made, the pair return to the day’s aerial demonstrations without further incident.

3. First U.S. President to Fly in an Aircraft: [1910] October 11. Theodore Roosevelt rides along for a three minute flight in a Wright Model B aircraft. Archibald Hoxsey pilots the flight from Kinloch Field near present day STL Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, MO. After landing, Roosevelt says “It was the finest experience I have ever had.” Hoxsey would die five months later in a crash while attempting to break his own altitude record at only 26 years old. The Wright Brothers pay for his funeral. It would be another three decades before a sitting U.S. president would fly for official business, the other Roosevelt, Franklin D in 1943.

4. First Parachute Jump from a Powered Aircraft: [1912] March 1. Albert Berry is frequently credited as the first person to successfully parachute jump from a powered aircraft. The event happened over Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, MO on Berry’s 33^rd birthday in 1912. However, Grant Morton also has a claim of doing the same thing, but in 1911. In 1911, Berry was too busy being involved in the horrific lynching of Zachariah Walker to do anything of substance. 1912 is also after 1911. So, Berry was not only not the first parachutist from a powered aircraft, he was also a giant piece of shit. . The UK, good at memorializing garbage people, named a mountain in Antarctica after Berry in 1960. Fuck Albert Berry and the parachute that brought him safely down.

5. First Senator Killed in Plane Crash: [1935] May 6. Senator Bronson Cutting [R-NM] is killed in the crash of TWA flight 6. The DC-2 crashes near Atlanta, MO in fog and mist on a flight from Albuquerque, NM to Kansas City, MO. The accident was integral to the restructuring of aviation safety investigations in the United States in the years following, but has been mostly forgotten today. I have written specifically about TWA flight 6 and plan to post more about the crash as the 87th anniversary is coming up in just a few days.

6. First In-Flight Hijacking: [1939] October 27. Earnest Pletch murders his flight instructor, Carl Bivens, during their third flight together. In a confusing series of events further obscured by his ever changing story, Pletch shoots Bivens twice in the back of the head while flying at 5,000ft. Pletch manages to land the aircraft near Cherry Box, MO and dumps Bivens’ body. Pletch takes off again and flies toward central Indiana. His arrival in Clear Creek, IN draws a small crowd that answer his request for food with directions to a General Store. Pletch is apprehended a short time later at the lunch counter with blood still on his overalls.

7. First Jet Aircraft Bombing: [1962] May 22. The majority of wreckage and all passengers from Continental Airlines flight 11 land in far northern central Missouri. The Boeing 707 with 45 souls aboard crashes following the detonation of several sticks of dynamite placed in the right rear lavatory’s used towel bin. The suspected perpetrator, also a passenger, is Thomas G. Doty of Kansas City, MO. Leading some of the other unambiguously shit people on this list, Doty purchased six sticks of 29 cent dynamite in the days prior to the flight. At the airport, he signs up for a $150,000 life insurance policy and is the last person to board the aircraft. The tragedy remains the deadliest aviation incident in the state of Missouri.

The history of aviation in Missouri is actually quite rich for how stale the region is today. This includes a pretty substantial number of firsts all things considered. Am I missing any? I would love a nice rounded and even ten, for which I think three more is enough. Even if number four on my current list arguably shouldn’t count. Some of these stories deserve further attention, so check back for more detailed posts about aviation, history, and apparently the state of Missouri.