One acclaimed hero of the Bermuda Sky Queen crash was Pilot Charles Martin. When his big Boeing flying boat ran low on gas over the stormy North Atlantic last month (TIME, Oct. 27), he had brought her neatly down off the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bibb and saved the lives of 69 passengers and crewmen. But as Civil Aeronautics Board hearings began last week, Pilot Martin (and crew) looked a lot less heroic.
Pilot Martin, a 26-year-old ex-Navy flyer, confessed to an almost incredible tale of carelessness and poor judgment. He had taken off from Foynes, Eire, 3,600 lbs. overloaded,...
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