Aviation Ghosts
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Aviation Ghosts
Just finished reading a thoroughly satisfying book called "Echoes in the Air" by Jack Currie, a former wartime RAF bomber pilot.
The book covers many strange stories of events and appearances by ghostly spirits or forces that have appeared or acted over the years. Many of these have occured at wartime airfields or in buildings (hangars that noone will enter after dark due to pure fear, the wet splosh of a WW 2 fighter pilot's feet in a barrack room in the 1970's, control towers where telephones are thrown of their hooks, etc).
One chapter covered the ghost of a crew member of an Eastern Airlines L-1011 Tristar that crashed into the Florida Everglades in 1972. It is said that the ghost appeared in Eastern's L-1011's whenever there was trouble, alerting crews and engineers to danger and saving lives in the process.
A very eerie read, makes you wonder about many of the old aerodromes from which many of us operate from today, and the stories they hold within them.
Have any PPRuNe readers ever witnessed any strange 'paranormal' events in aviation?
Kermie
[ 16 October 2001: Message edited by: Kermit 180 ]
The book covers many strange stories of events and appearances by ghostly spirits or forces that have appeared or acted over the years. Many of these have occured at wartime airfields or in buildings (hangars that noone will enter after dark due to pure fear, the wet splosh of a WW 2 fighter pilot's feet in a barrack room in the 1970's, control towers where telephones are thrown of their hooks, etc).
One chapter covered the ghost of a crew member of an Eastern Airlines L-1011 Tristar that crashed into the Florida Everglades in 1972. It is said that the ghost appeared in Eastern's L-1011's whenever there was trouble, alerting crews and engineers to danger and saving lives in the process.
A very eerie read, makes you wonder about many of the old aerodromes from which many of us operate from today, and the stories they hold within them.
Have any PPRuNe readers ever witnessed any strange 'paranormal' events in aviation?
Kermie
[ 16 October 2001: Message edited by: Kermit 180 ]
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If you can find a copy, try "The Airmen Who Would Not Die" by Fuller. Can't remember the gentleman's first name because I lost my copy of the book, but it is a very interesting account of paranormal events surrounding a number of air disasters, mainly the R101.
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There are one or two local myths about ghosties& ghoulies at Barton Manchester (real ghosts, not committee members that is). But I've never seen any myself.
1. 1st floor in the tower (current Committee room) was reputed to be haunted some time back.
2. The harbit hangar (next to the Tower) - an ex-CFI told me that very late one night he heard voices and tool-type noises in the hangar. They opened up the hangar and checked but found no-one. This was shortly after a fatal crash of an aircraft which was housed there.
3. Same guy told me that someone had seen a greyish character in a flying suit early one misty morning, who disappeared as he was approached.
Certainly the field has seen its fair share of aviation tragedies. But I'll remain cynical until I see something for myself. Stories always seem to get elaborated upon as they are passed on (i'm told a pint or two assists this process). The nearest thing I experienced there was a ghostly scream and a white shape looming low out of the sky late one night. It was a barn owl.
1. 1st floor in the tower (current Committee room) was reputed to be haunted some time back.
2. The harbit hangar (next to the Tower) - an ex-CFI told me that very late one night he heard voices and tool-type noises in the hangar. They opened up the hangar and checked but found no-one. This was shortly after a fatal crash of an aircraft which was housed there.
3. Same guy told me that someone had seen a greyish character in a flying suit early one misty morning, who disappeared as he was approached.
Certainly the field has seen its fair share of aviation tragedies. But I'll remain cynical until I see something for myself. Stories always seem to get elaborated upon as they are passed on (i'm told a pint or two assists this process). The nearest thing I experienced there was a ghostly scream and a white shape looming low out of the sky late one night. It was a barn owl.
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The late Jack Currie did a half hour tv program about this some ten years ago, much filmed at East Kirkby, an airfield he'd flown Lancasters from. Quite made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up! On a different note, his two books on his Lancaster and Mosquito tours are also excellent reading.
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When I was in Her Majesties Flying Club In '76 I was posted to RAF Lindolme (Northern Radar as was) nobody would go out the back as it was reputed that a WW2 Halifax pilot wandered around and had been seen by some in the Radar and some of the Hastings guys said they had a funny feeling of being watched at night when going around the aircraft...
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Kermit,
About 10 years ago I was walking around the peri track at Lasham, near some woods, at dusk one summer evening when I had a real "hairs on the back of the neck" feeling.
I didn't see anything, but I didn't hang around there either.
Some time later I was told about a pilot whose Mosquito crashed into those woods and was killed in 1944, and whose ghost has supposedly been seen there over the years.
SD
About 10 years ago I was walking around the peri track at Lasham, near some woods, at dusk one summer evening when I had a real "hairs on the back of the neck" feeling.
I didn't see anything, but I didn't hang around there either.
Some time later I was told about a pilot whose Mosquito crashed into those woods and was killed in 1944, and whose ghost has supposedly been seen there over the years.
SD
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There is quite a few aerodromes around where you get those 'someone is watching me' feelings at night. Having never seen or witnesed a ghost or paranormal event, I always put it down to the size and emptiness of these places, the sort of feeling you sometimes get in the bush at night. Knowing or later learning that something tragic happened at that place makes it a bit freaky.
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Isn't Biggin hill supposed to be haunted also ?
I was told that some days, you can hear a Spifire passing over the Airfield, but can't see it. It seems a WW2 Pilot who never came back is desperatly trying to come home...
If some of you watched the cartoon "Porco Rosso " (no I am not playing in
) There is a quite romantic scene : the hero is flying "on top" among hundreds of warplanes, all climbing, except his own machine. He tries to join them, til they all disappear into the sun and clouds. An allegory of all his friends dead in air combat ..He is the sole survivor.
If you haven't seen this cartoon, I recommend you rent it ASAP, it's probably one of the best aviation tale of those last years. I think you can find it on DVD now
Cheerio
I was told that some days, you can hear a Spifire passing over the Airfield, but can't see it. It seems a WW2 Pilot who never came back is desperatly trying to come home...
If some of you watched the cartoon "Porco Rosso " (no I am not playing in
) There is a quite romantic scene : the hero is flying "on top" among hundreds of warplanes, all climbing, except his own machine. He tries to join them, til they all disappear into the sun and clouds. An allegory of all his friends dead in air combat ..He is the sole survivor.If you haven't seen this cartoon, I recommend you rent it ASAP, it's probably one of the best aviation tale of those last years. I think you can find it on DVD now
Cheerio
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A few years back (late 1980s) I was living in at RAF Scampton. It was well known that the officers' mess staff didn't like to go from the bar down to the cellar alone, there were persistent stories about people having experienced unpleasant and unexplained "events" in that area of the building. The staff at the time didn't like talking about it, possibly as we used to take the mickey. I spoke to one of the barmen and he said some people had felt that there was an unfriendly "presence" in the corridor.
While I was there, one of the Reds pilots (I won't give his name) was station duty officer (in itself an unusual event!). Whilst locking up the mess last thing at night he claimed to have seen an apparition in the ante room. He said it was a figure in WW2 flying kit standing by the fireplace and it faded away to nothing as he watched it. If he reads this he may care to comment further himself.
Scary ShyT
While I was there, one of the Reds pilots (I won't give his name) was station duty officer (in itself an unusual event!). Whilst locking up the mess last thing at night he claimed to have seen an apparition in the ante room. He said it was a figure in WW2 flying kit standing by the fireplace and it faded away to nothing as he watched it.
If he reads this he may care to comment further himself.Scary ShyT
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....ghostly aero engines over Colerne airfield, Wilts. OK, I confess I had spent the evening glugging decent Burgundy at a nearby posh hotel, but even so.
Not a ghost story, but if you walk in the woods near Christmas Common (just where the M40 slices through the Chilterns, not far from the big Stokenchurch mast) you may come across a memorial to the crew of a battle damaged Whitley that crashed there, just a short distance from their base. A quiet and mournful place where the birds seem not to sing. It's good to see, however, that someone regularly places flowers there.
Not a ghost story, but if you walk in the woods near Christmas Common (just where the M40 slices through the Chilterns, not far from the big Stokenchurch mast) you may come across a memorial to the crew of a battle damaged Whitley that crashed there, just a short distance from their base. A quiet and mournful place where the birds seem not to sing. It's good to see, however, that someone regularly places flowers there.
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Isn't there a story about a galley from Flt 401 - the Everglades DC-10.
Apparently they recycled the sucker into a new build as it survived the prang quite well and now it's haunted in its new home! (If it's still around) May be a bit apocryphal too!
I also believe the cockpit of the Aloha B737 is in use as a sim somewhere - any stories about that?
FNG like your story about the memorial. It's like countless other stories about dead airmen around Europe - someone still remembers, even though they weren't born at the time.
Apparently they recycled the sucker into a new build as it survived the prang quite well and now it's haunted in its new home! (If it's still around) May be a bit apocryphal too!
I also believe the cockpit of the Aloha B737 is in use as a sim somewhere - any stories about that?
FNG like your story about the memorial. It's like countless other stories about dead airmen around Europe - someone still remembers, even though they weren't born at the time.
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Thought I would add a couple of stories to this rather interesting thread.
Whilst staying with a friend in Stocksbridge just outside of Sheffield a few years ago, I read a piece in the local paper about a group of people who were out on the moors around Strines watching the Hale-Bopp comet. Apparently, they called the police after a large four engined bomber passed overhead, seemingly in trouble. Shortly afterwards a local farmer dialled 999 to report a Lancaster bomber had crashed in a nearby field. A third person called to report a large explosion and fireball. An extensive search of the area was carried out, but no wreckage was found.
I remember hearing another story, although I can't remember all of the details. Perhaps someone else has more information?
An aircraft, possibly a DC-3 crashed at (I think) Heathrow and upon arrival the emergency services were met by a man who was deperately searching for his briefcase. Not an uncommon reaction from the survivor of an aircrash, except in this incident there were no survivors.
[ 29 October 2001: Message edited by: ramsrc ]
Whilst staying with a friend in Stocksbridge just outside of Sheffield a few years ago, I read a piece in the local paper about a group of people who were out on the moors around Strines watching the Hale-Bopp comet. Apparently, they called the police after a large four engined bomber passed overhead, seemingly in trouble. Shortly afterwards a local farmer dialled 999 to report a Lancaster bomber had crashed in a nearby field. A third person called to report a large explosion and fireball. An extensive search of the area was carried out, but no wreckage was found.
I remember hearing another story, although I can't remember all of the details. Perhaps someone else has more information?
An aircraft, possibly a DC-3 crashed at (I think) Heathrow and upon arrival the emergency services were met by a man who was deperately searching for his briefcase. Not an uncommon reaction from the survivor of an aircrash, except in this incident there were no survivors.
[ 29 October 2001: Message edited by: ramsrc ]
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Ramsrc,
Yes I heard about that. A fairly major police search was carried out, I believe, but nothing was found. Weird.
I am an open-minded sceptic about such matters (only just) because I did personally experience something strange and unexplained as a child in the 1960s, whilst alone at my father's place of employment. Years later (he has retired some years since) I mentioned it to him again and discovered my experience fitted exactly into a whole pattern of similar events experienced for years by he and other workers, although he decided not to tell me about them at the time. Extremely unsettling events, some of them verging on violence by something intangible. Unresolved to this day, I understand, but my father has researched a little local history and now has a theory. I am not sure I am broad-minded enough to accept it....but if what he and his ex-colleagues say is true...it probably needs professionally looking into.
I wish I hadn't reminded myself about it. Because I can't explain any of it.
Sorry, can't spell.
[ 29 October 2001: Message edited by: ShyTorque ]
Yes I heard about that. A fairly major police search was carried out, I believe, but nothing was found. Weird.
I am an open-minded sceptic about such matters (only just) because I did personally experience something strange and unexplained as a child in the 1960s, whilst alone at my father's place of employment. Years later (he has retired some years since) I mentioned it to him again and discovered my experience fitted exactly into a whole pattern of similar events experienced for years by he and other workers, although he decided not to tell me about them at the time. Extremely unsettling events, some of them verging on violence by something intangible. Unresolved to this day, I understand, but my father has researched a little local history and now has a theory. I am not sure I am broad-minded enough to accept it....but if what he and his ex-colleagues say is true...it probably needs professionally looking into.
I wish I hadn't reminded myself about it. Because I can't explain any of it.Sorry, can't spell.
[ 29 October 2001: Message edited by: ShyTorque ]
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In my dim and distant past I worked at an airfield which was a WW2 bomber base but is now a UK regional airport. The terminal buildings, atc and the engineering department were built on the site of one the dispersal bays where bomb loading took place.
One of my duties involved work in the Tel's department to change tapes etc, this was done twice a day - am and pm, and whenever I was in the building I always got the feeling I wasn't alone, but never saw anything.
For fear of being accused of being a total loony, I never mentioned it until I left the unit, it was only then that one of my colleagues told me he regularly used to see a figure walking through the building, but never got a response from it, he said he always felt perfectly at ease in it's presence.
Another one is up at Sumburgh, Shetland Isles, where a long tunnel type structure is in place from the end of the apron leading to the terminal building. The idea was that aircraft which were parked on the extremities of the apron area could disembark their passengers and they could walk to the terminal protected from the weather. When the Piper Alpha oil rig tradgedy happened, this tunnel was used as a temporary morgue, and ever since it has had a reputation of being a very spooky place to be in. It is no longer used because local staff will not go in, and several years ago an electrician who went to do some work in there, spent 2 minutes in there and came running out. He wouldnt say what he saw, but refued to go back in.
Lastly, try the old terminal and control tower complex at Liverpool, it has quite a reputation, as I'm sure anyone who has worked there will tell you.
One of my duties involved work in the Tel's department to change tapes etc, this was done twice a day - am and pm, and whenever I was in the building I always got the feeling I wasn't alone, but never saw anything.
For fear of being accused of being a total loony, I never mentioned it until I left the unit, it was only then that one of my colleagues told me he regularly used to see a figure walking through the building, but never got a response from it, he said he always felt perfectly at ease in it's presence.
Another one is up at Sumburgh, Shetland Isles, where a long tunnel type structure is in place from the end of the apron leading to the terminal building. The idea was that aircraft which were parked on the extremities of the apron area could disembark their passengers and they could walk to the terminal protected from the weather. When the Piper Alpha oil rig tradgedy happened, this tunnel was used as a temporary morgue, and ever since it has had a reputation of being a very spooky place to be in. It is no longer used because local staff will not go in, and several years ago an electrician who went to do some work in there, spent 2 minutes in there and came running out. He wouldnt say what he saw, but refued to go back in.
Lastly, try the old terminal and control tower complex at Liverpool, it has quite a reputation, as I'm sure anyone who has worked there will tell you.
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Spoonbill
An interesting post. Would you care to elaborate on the story about the old Liverpool terminal complex? I don't know that part of the world too well.
Another story sprang to mind having read some of the previous posts. I remember hearing it at some point in the dim and distant past from a former colleague.
A prop-liner crashed on a mud-bank (some distance from shore) in the North Sea, shortly after the Second World War. The mud bank was only accessible at low tide and as soon as possible a rescue attempt was mounted. When the rescuers arrived on the scene they discovered that all on board had lost their lives in the crash, but a set of footprints in the mud led from the door of the aircraft, right around it and back to the door again.
Perhaps one final check that the aircraft was secure before the crew left it for the last time?
As an aside - has anyone read "the Shepherd" by Frederick Forsyth? It is a cracking story and, I believe, based on a true story.
An interesting post. Would you care to elaborate on the story about the old Liverpool terminal complex? I don't know that part of the world too well.
Another story sprang to mind having read some of the previous posts. I remember hearing it at some point in the dim and distant past from a former colleague.
A prop-liner crashed on a mud-bank (some distance from shore) in the North Sea, shortly after the Second World War. The mud bank was only accessible at low tide and as soon as possible a rescue attempt was mounted. When the rescuers arrived on the scene they discovered that all on board had lost their lives in the crash, but a set of footprints in the mud led from the door of the aircraft, right around it and back to the door again.
Perhaps one final check that the aircraft was secure before the crew left it for the last time?
As an aside - has anyone read "the Shepherd" by Frederick Forsyth? It is a cracking story and, I believe, based on a true story.
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I'm not generally a fan of Forsyth's work, but agree that "The Shepherd" is an excellent story, very well told. It's deeply atmospheric, and the perfect Christmas Ghost Story for aviation buffs. The moody illustrations which accompany the story (at least in the copy I have) add to the pleasure.