Plane Crash Killed Thurman Munson 41 Years Ago, But His Last Words Continue To Haunt People
Here’s a jaw-dropping fact – according to the BBC, in 2018 approximately 514 people died from plane crashes, but this plane crash story from 1979 still has the potential to send chills down your spine. Meet Thurman Lee Munson who was born on the 7th of June 1947 in Akron, Ohio. When Munson wasn’t busy playing baseball he was often seen flying planes; a hobby that, in the end, took his life.
Munson grew up in Canton with his brother Duane and that’s where his passion for baseball emerged. His career in baseball was nothing but excellent. Not only did he attend Kent State University on scholarship, he was also named catcher on the 1968 College Baseball All-American Team. In 1968 he married Diana Dominick and fathered three children – Tracy, Kelly, and Michael. For three consecutive years (1973 – 1975), Munson collected the Gold Glove Award and thus by 1979 he was considered a legendary sports player. Life was laid out for the young sportsman.
Munson knew that he had conquered it all, but according to his once-enemy and good friend Reggie Jackson, he was starting to get tired and missed being with his family. He wanted to get away from the pressure of being part of the nation’s biggest team and live an equally interesting life outside the baseball field. And so he started learning how to fly. He yearned to fly to his family when he wasn’t playing and thought that the privacy he will experience in his plane, above the rest of the world, would be of significant value to him. In 1978 Munson began learning how to fly and it wasn’t long before he became obsessed with it.
Jackson stated that Munson spent hours learning everything he could about flying, to the point that he thought Munson was more interested in flying than playing baseball. Instead of traveling with his team each time they played in a new city, he would fly himself there while the rest of the team traveled together. In 1979, Munson purchased his first plane – a Cessna Citation I/SP – for a solid $1.2 million. Munson knew that he was still a novice pilot with one year of flying experience, but the plane he bought was a powerful jet that required a professional pilot to fly it.
Soon members of his team, including coach Martin, Jackson, and Graig Nettles, began flying with him and every time he brought the plane down without a problem. Then on the 2nd of August 1979 David Hall, who taught Munson how to fly, and his friend Jeff Anderson decided to join him as he attempted to further polish his flying skills. With Hall and Anderson onboard, Munson began practicing touch-and-go landings. He had completed three landings and was about to land for the last time when the tower requested him to turn right instead of left. This proved to be a difficult task for the novice pilot because he went slightly off course and failed to open the plane’s flaps on time, which led to a catastrophe.
Munson’s plane crashed into a tree stump and immediately engulfed in flames. Since Munson wasn’t properly secured, the hit left him with a dislocated cervical vertebrae and was paralyzed from the neck down. Hall and Anderson survived the crash but both had burns on their bodies. Even if Munson had survived the crash, his sports career would have ended because he would have likely lived the rest of his life as a quadriplegic. After realizing that the plane was on fire, Munson first checked on his two friends and then said, “Fire extinguisher.” But time was running out – toxic fumes and blistering hot air was starting to choke them.
Just moments before passing away Munson said, “Help me, Dave.” Unfortunately, despite trying hard to free Munson, the two men could do nothing to save their dying friend. As the smoke began to thicken, Hall and Anderson had no options, but to save their own lives, and so they exited the plane, leaving Munson trapped inside.
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