The mystery of the homesick mechanic who stole a plane

A Really Intriguing tale posted by the BBC today.

"In 1969, at the height of the Cold War, a mechanic in the US Air Force stole a Hercules plane from his base in East Anglia and set off for the States. Just under two hours later, he disappeared suddenly over the English Channel. Did he simply crash or was he shot down?

The evening of the 22 May 1969 had not been a good night for 23-year-old US Air Force mechanic Sgt Paul Meyer. Homesick for his wife and stepchildren, he'd asked a few days earlier to be returned from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, where he'd been posted, to the USAF base at Langley, Virginia. But his request for leave had been refused.

Bitterly disappointed, the young Vietnam veteran took himself off to a military colleague's house party, where he began drinking heavily and then, according to colleagues, to behave erratically and combatively. His friends persuaded him to go to bed, but Meyer escaped through a window.

Soon after, Suffolk police found him wandering the A11 road and arrested him for being drunk and disorderly. He was escorted back to his barracks and told to sleep it off. But Meyer had other ideas. Big ideas"


Fully Story

I think that the Family deserve to know what happened, Its strange that any request under FIA has been met with silence. Who do we think was culpable? If anyone?

from the description of weather conditions at the time , him being drunk along with the flightpath flying an aircraft he wasnt certified to fly its most likely he crashed into the channel .

just lucky it wasnt over an inhabited area and nobody else was injured or killed .

i know nothing about flying but i know drinking

and theres one thing everyone dose when they thave been drunk a whial sleep

sounds like he passed out n crashed

a reply to: markovian

I thought this, but then his wife said his last words were that he would call back as he had "got trouble" Did that mean plane wise or people tailing him?

originally posted by: Briles1207
a reply to: markovian

I thought this, but then his wife said his last words were that he would call back as he was "in trouble" Did that mean plane wise or people tailing him?

Interesting story. Curious though, how was he communicating with his wife?

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

He called her from the Plane for about an Hour. He'd been in the air for about 1 hour 45 though before he disappeared. I dont know how long it would take for our RAF to catch him up If they realised he had stolen it?

originally posted by: Briles1207
a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

He called her from the Plane for about an Hour. He'd been in the air for about 1 hour 45 though before he disappeared. I dont know how long it would take for our RAF to catch him up If they realised he had stolen it?

I'm not doubting you but I don't know how it's possible to call someone from a plane in 1969. A control tower or ATC I understand. I presume the wife wasn't at a military base so she would have taken the call on a house phone?

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

I think Airfone (Which was the first Publicly available air to land comms I believe) Was developed in the 70's.

Im assuming that the military had this way before that.

Good Point though?

Back since before WWII one could connect from radio to the phone system through the operator using HF-radios.
You contacted an operator over the air who then patched you into the phone system on a landline. Usually collect. And it was expensive.

a reply to: RadioRobert

Living up to your Handle there Rob ;-)

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

We used to do it occasionally when my father was on one of his trips. It's actually pretty funny to watch, because you're talking on the phone, and have to say "over" all the time.

a reply to: Briles1207

i waonder what punishments the tower and ground crew got for allowing a solo take off - of a plane that SHOULD have a 3 man crew [ bare min ]

yes - i know the optimum cre should be 4 or 5 - but the RAF fly them with 3 [ on CERTAIN mission profiles ]

i suspect that more than 3 would be mandatory for transatlantic ops

fact remmains - who the hell thought it was permissible for a single pilot to take off ???

a reply to: ignorant_ape

He started the aircraft and began taxiing. They attempted to stop him but the aircraft was already moving too fast. He didn't exactly follow procedures and contact the tower. He climbed aboard like he was doing normal checks for the daily departure, started engines and went.

a reply to: Briles1207
Well, well, looking at his photo I think it's the same man who was holding a Carcano rifle in a garden somewhere?
If he was trying to get to America I think he was going in the wrong direction. At that time, in the cold war, the coverage by radar was exceptional and they would have had him from the moment of takeoff. The only problem was to identify aircraft and his intentions.

Reminds me a little bit of the Gulf Breeze Six, who deserted their Army intelligence posts to fly off and meet Jesus and UFOs in Gulf Breeze, Florida. Now there's a story that might be interesting to dig through again.

Gulf Breeze Six

a reply to: Blue Shift

I remember something about that, it was an intriguing story when it first came to pass. I remember all the theories, most of which where around the fact that they all were cryptographers, and that they had uncovered "something" that the military didn't want to get out. That was the last I had heard on it.

Now to the OP, this was an interesting story in and of it's self.

originally posted by: VengefulGhost
from the description of weather conditions at the time , him being drunk along with the flightpath flying an aircraft he wasnt certified to fly its most likely he crashed into the channel .

just lucky it wasnt over an inhabited area and nobody else was injured or killed .

And you sir, never jumped over trashcans with your bike.

Didn't a Nazi do that back in the day?


Fly to england, as it was called?

Hess was an actual pilot though.

originally posted by: RadioRobert
Hess was an actual pilot though.

Ahhh, herman hess.

I liked his book.

Siddhartha.

OMG!! am I a russian now?

I don't want to be a russian!