In 1950, Bill Christensen was supposed to have taken a flight to get back to Anchorage. The plane was going to do a fuel drop at the Sitknak site before heading on in. Louie Houck, supervisor from St. Louis took the flight instead of Bill. After the fuel drop, the plane had to make a sharp turn and got caught in wind sheer and came down.
Pat Christensen was back in Nebraska with me (less than 1 year old so not a real help). Her family apparently saw the crash information in the newspaper and debated whether to tell her or let her find out on her own. She saw the paper and the listing of deceased and thought she was a widow.
Bill had told her approximately when he would be getting back to Anchorage and would be calling her. Since he got bumped off his flight, he decided to call her as soon as he got in to a phone.
When he called to tell Pat where he was, she was a little unglued. He didn't even know about the crash and she was more than a little relieved. She kept asking him if he was sure he was OK over and over and over.
Main Menu