Hello DuBois -
Back when your father was pilot of the Electra, I was a housewife with 4 kids, and for the first time had to get a babysitter and fly to Boston from Philadelphia on Eastern Airlines. It was an Electra, the Eastern service was called the Shuttle.
My first time on an airliner (had a ride in a light plane in l944). So I felt relatively safe, with the pilots in proper uniforms, the cabin staff very professional. The engines started, we taxied hither and yon, and then before entering the runway, the pilots were revving the engines, then doing it again, then doing it again, and again, and they certainly made some peculiar noises.
People in the cabin looking at each other nervously. Presently after ten minutes of this, the captain came on the radio and said "You may have noticed one of the engines sounds a bit rough, so we are going back to the gate and get a different airplane.!"
And with that, we all trooped off, and over to the other gate...no further excitement at all. My only recollection of an Electra flight.
Do you fly yourself? I have 3,000 hours in gliders and light aircraft, but in my day women did not often become airline pilots. We were supposed to stay at home and raise a family.
But I have read a few reports, when I knew the incident described, and as many above have said, witnesses do not always understand what happened.
Those who survived and were responsible for what happened tend to be economical with the truth! It can be too painful to admit responsibility when people are hurt.