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Sources for 1967 Lake Erie Skydiving disaster

Contemporaneous news

 * "The Day - Aug 28, 1967" pages 1, 12 "Lake Erie Search Pressed For 14 Missing Sky Divers"
 * St. Petersburg Times - Aug 29, 1967 "Sky Diver Helmets Found"
 * The Milwaukee Journal - Aug 30, 1967 "Water Top Risk for Sky Divers"
 * The Evening Independent - Aug 28, 1967 "Slim Hope Held for Missing 14 'Chutists"
 * The Miami News - Aug 28, 1967 18 Skydivers Miss Target in Ohio

Web sources

 * Huron Historical Society: Direct: August 1967 - Tragedy puts Huron in the News

Metafilter start point

 * Metafilter article
 * Time article "Parachuting: Bad Trip", Friday, Sept. 08, 1967 (paywalled); Opening online at . Points:
 * 20 jumpers:
 * 2 Jumped & survived: Robert Coy and Bernard Johnson, rescued by passing boat;
 * 2 delayed to jump from a still higher altitude and landed safely on the ground.
 * 10 bodies found (one woman)
 * 6 not recovered, presumed drowned.
 * Took off from Ortner field
 * All 20 had 100+ jumps
 * Plan: go to 20K feet, freefall to ~ 3000ft, then deploy and land
 * Weather overcast at 4500ft, 60 MPH winds
 * B25 bomber from WW II, "rudimentary navigation equipment"; Pilot: Robert Karns, 29, did not have type rating for plane
 * Take-off and target was Ortner field, 10 miles from Lake Erie
 * FAA ATC in Oberlin was ATC in charge. ATC: "You are three miles west of Ortner." Karns: "Fine, I'm releasing my jumpers."
 * Clouds, broken by "patches of brownish green"; jumping forbidden by USPA rules and FAA regs
 * Coy quote: "I was flabbergasted. I couldn't see land. Nothing. I could see the other parachutes going into the water."
 * Plain Dealer article "Irresistible rare skydive turned tragic 40 years ago" August 27, 2007 (paywalled, $3) (linked from Metafilter statement "The tragedy remains the worst recreational skydiving accident  in history")

court cases

 * Dreyer v. United States, 349 F. Supp. 296 (N.D. Ohio 1972)
 * Freeman v. United States, 509 F.2d 626 (6th Cir. 1975).
 * Alternative URLs: ,

AP images

 * 4 photos

postings (use for background, not as sources)

 * Dropzone postings ,
 * Pprune IFR no longer allowed as a result of the accident (dubious)