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.
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