, registration N4891C, was a
Douglas DC-7B aircraft which disappeared over the
Gulf Of Mexico en route from
Tampa ,
Florida to
New Orleans ,
Louisiana on
November 16 ,
1959 . All 42 onboard were presumed killed in the accident.
The flight originated in , New Orleans Approach Control, and
Air Traffic Control were unable to raise the flight. Search and rescue aircraft spotted scattered debris and a number of bodies in the vicinity of the last radar return; the remains of ten individuals were eventually located. The main section of the wreckage has never been found despite the efforts of
Navy and
Coast Guard divers.
As investigators attempted to piece together the events that led to Flight 967's demise, it was discovered that one passenger, William Taylor, had boarded the flight using a ticket issued to
Richard Spears , a convicted criminal working at the time as a
Naturopath . The theory arose that Spears, who had befriended Taylor in prison, tricked Taylor into boarding the flight with a piece of luggage containing a bomb. When the aircraft was destroyed, authorities would assume that Spears had himself been a victim and his wife would be able to collect on his life insurance. However, Taylor chose to purchase his own life insurance at the airport before departure; when his ex-wife applied to collect, the deception was discovered. Spears disappeared after the accident but was arrested in
Phoenix, Arizona with Taylor's car. He was charged with unlawful possession of an automobile but due to lack of evidence was never charged in the alleged bombing of Flight 967. His whereabouts after his arrest in Phoenix are unknown.
The
Civil Aeronautics Board (predecessor of the
NTSB ) did not find a probable cause for the accident due to the lack of evidence.
