Information Shared in Idaho

Idaho Statesman, The (Boise, ID)


A tale of courage and survival with Boise roots
January 11, 2009

Author: Tim Woodward

Sixty-six years ago, a plane belonging to a Boise company crashed in the Alaska wilderness. The result was an epic tale of survival, told in the recently published "Hearts of Courage."

John Tippets and his wife, Bonnie, at an exibit for his new book. The exhibit was at the American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum in Fort Worth, Texas., where the couple lives. The "MK" on what appears to be a podium (but is actually a replica of a shipping box) stands for Morrison-Knudsen.

Joseph Tippets and his wife, Alta, lived in Alaska and dressed accordingly. When he feared he was dying while hiking out to get help for the other survivors, Tippets wrote a letter for Alta to read after his body was found.

"Hearts of Courage" is available locally at Deseret Book and online at amazon.com. It retails for $19.95.Copyright 2009, The Idaho Statesman
Record Number: 0111-life-woodward

Hearts of Courage in Utah

Artic journey goes on air for all to hear By Laura Nordstrom - 13 Jan 2009

Joseph Tippets faced impossible odds in rescuing fellow passengers of a plane crash in the Alaskan territory 66 years ago, and now his story will be told on BYU Television this week. "LDS Lives: Hearts of Courage" features the famous 1943 plane crash rescue in Alaska this Thursday at 9 a.m. and Monday, at 4 p.m. After reading the story, Dean Stephen Jones of Brigham Young University's College of Fine Arts and Communications met with Tippets' son John and sent the idea to BYU Broadcasting. It is a story of bravery and faith, but also represents the love of family. "It is a love story of my mother and dad," Tippets said. "But it is also a story of the love that my siblings and I have for our parents." The story begins in Anchorage, Alaska, where Tippets sat thinking of his expectant wife and two children, anticipating his arrival home. The territory was having its worst winter in 100 years, and as Tippets began his departure, the plane was already accumulating ice. Several hours into the flight, the left engine lost power and with the added weight of the ice, the right engine could not maintain altitude. The last radio contact was, "One engine has conked out, expect trouble." After slamming through trees, losing its right wing and destroying the fuselage, the plane crashed into a deep gully and was buried by a tree. The six passengers survived, but were completely hidden from view. It was up to Tippets and passenger Percy Cutting to find their way through the storm and harsh Alaskan wilderness to rescue their fellow passengers. John Tippets said in a press release, "I recently listened again to a recording of a fireside given by Dad where he said one possible reason his life was spared by his Father in Heaven was so he could tell this story to others and increase their faith and confidence that prayers are answered."

Publicity in Alaska

Hearts of Courage' details 1943 crash

By Rob Stapleton
Alaska Journal of Commerce

The 1943 crash of famed Bush pilot Harold Gilliam left many unanswered question about how, why and where the aircraft crashed in Southeast Alaska.

John M. Tippets' book “Hearts of Courage” about the crash and the incidents surrounding the event according to the notes by his father Joe Tippets - one of the crash survivors - leaves no stone unturned in this story of a wilderness drama.

Gilliam, flying a Lockheed 10B had an engine quit and crashed during a snowstorm headed for what the pilot thought was Annette Island in Southeast Alaska on Jan. 5, 1943. The survivors of the crash were rescued from the island of Boca de Quadra some 33 days later.

Son John Tippets, clears up many misconceptions surrounding the ill-fated flight and the rescue of its passengers.

The beauty of this book is the way that John Tippets used notes and letters from his father, Joe Tippets, who eventually became the associate administrator with the Federal Aviation Administration, and his mother, Alta, to craft a version of the accident that fully explains the flight.

Using the first person voice, Tippets created a detailed and challenging version of the air disaster that made headlines all over the U.S. during World War II.

Gilliam was a pilot from Cordova, and was flying for the Morrison Knudsen Co. He had a good reputation as an aviator; so much so that the public could not believe that the flight was lost.

The pilot had a colorful reputation as one of the North's best pilots. Coincidentally, the lost aircraft a twin engine Lockheed Electra was the same type flown by Amelia Earhart in 1937 on her circumnavigation of the Earth.

The book aptly paints a picture of Alaska during World War II and how restrictive entering and leaving Alaska was, as well as the concerns of the government about the welfare of individuals and families wishing to live in the state during times of war.

Tippets, currently CEO of the American Airlines Credit Union, skillfully uses his father's perceptions of their unfolding challenges in a seamless first-person narrative that allows the reader to experience the drama of the four men's rescue from the cold and severe wilderness.

Passages like, “We waited for the flight to leave while an oil line to the left engine was being repaired,” are clues to what the 144-page book is about to reveal. Details reveal the flight, the crash and the survival of the men thrust into the winter wilderness of Southeast Alaska for nearly a month.

Of great help to balance the story are the detailed appendices at the end of the book's story. Appendix A is a letter by the elder Tippets to the parents of Susan Batzer, who died in the crash. Appendix B to D are helpful in understanding the official Civil Aviation Administration cause report of the crash and historical expeditions to the planes final location.

Pilot Gilliam also died, as he froze to death seeking a rescue of his four passengers, Joe Tippets, Robert Gebo, Percy Cutting and Dewey Metzdorf.

Tippets, a devout member of the Latter Day Saints Church credits his faith for his survival and kept detailed notes during the experience that were later used by his son to give this historical event a firm narrative.

Also the letters and diary that Tippets wrote after the forced landing are a perfect chronology of factual events for those who long for details about the flight that lead up to a month in the wilderness.

But the story is more than an account of a crash in Bush Alaska, it is more a testament of faith and courage by Joe Tippets and his fellow cabin mates on the flight from Seattle's Boeing Field to Anchorage International Airport, and to Tippets' wife, Alta, who always believed that her husband would return.

Enduring freezing nights, with no food and absolutely no promise of rescue, the four individuals persevered to live one of Alaska's greatest quizzes. This story has become a factual debate among aviation historians and clears up many questions about what caused the crash, how Gillam handled it, and how the passengers survived until rescued by a U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat.

This 144-page book, recently released by Publication Consultants, is priced at $19.95. It is a quick read, well-researched is a fine addition for aviation history buffs.