Willful Misconduct: An untold story - Hardcover

Norris, William

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29 ratings by Goodreads

9780393017960: Willful Misconduct: An untold story

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393017966 ISBN 13: 9780393017960

Publisher: Norton, 1984

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On January 30, 1974, the pilot of a Pan American World Airlines Boeing 707 jet carrying 101 passengers and crew flew his plane into the jungle instead of the airport at Pago Pago, Samoa. Although everyone on board survived the impact, 97 people perished in the ensuing fire. Four survived to tell of it.

What caused the crash? What prevented the 97 passengers from escaping the intact fuselage with their lives? Why was the wreck bulldozed and buried before it could be examined? Why was the co-pilot's deathbed statement never recorded? Why did the survivors and the families of the dead have to wait more than ten years for compensation, despite the fact that Pan American was found guilty of "willful misconduct" after the longest and most expensive trial in aviation history?
That is the story William Norris tells. It is a triumph of investigative journalism by a man whose outrage grew as he followed the trail of evidence, dug beneath the cover-ups, and came to know personally most of the people involved.
The result is a gripping tale, full of fascinating characters, human tragedy, and courtroom drama to beggar Perry Mason.

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About the Author:

William (Bill) Norris has been a professional writer since joining his local newspaper as an apprentice reporter at the age of 16. After working for a variety of newspapers in England and Africa, he was appointed Parliamentary Correspondent to the prestigious Times (of London) ten years later - one of the youngest ever to gain this position. He held the post for seven years, revolutionising the art of the "parliamentary sketch", then transferred to become Africa Correspondent for The Times, covering political events and wars in Biafra, Nigeria, Angola, the Congo, Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Growing tired of being shot at - this was long before the days of flak jackets, helmets and danger money for reporters, he moved to ITN as Political Correspondent in 1968, and also covered numerous overseas assignments including the Paris riots of that year. After turning freelance in 1980, Norris moved to the United States where he worked under contract for The Times and other publications for 13 years. He became Associate Director of the PressWise Trust (a British media ethics charity) in 1997, in which post he counseled young journalists and promoted the cause of journalistic ethics. The latter, he said, was rather like preaching the virtues of continence to a shipload of sex-starved sailors. Six years ago he moved to the South of France, where he lives with his wife, Betty, two cats, and two exhausting dogs. He is also an experienced public speaker, having addressed such varied venues as a World Health Organisation conference in Moscow, a European Union conference on journalistic ethics in Cyprus (at both of which he was the keynote speaker), and international post-graduate students at the University of London. A member emeritus of the Academy of Senior Professionals at Florida's Eckerd College, he now spends much of his time advising journalistic students.

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