Scapegoat: A Flight Crew's Journey from Heroes to Villains to Redemption

By Emilio Corsetti III

This is the story of a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation gone awry and one pilot's decade-long battle to clear his name. On April 4, 1979, a Boeing 727 with 82 passengers and a crew of 7 rolled over and plummeted from an altitude of 39,000 feet to within seconds of crashing were it not for the crew's actions to save the plane. The cause of the unexplained dive was the subject of one of the longest NTSB investigations at that time. While the crew's efforts to save TWA 841 were initially hailed as heroic, that all changed when safety inspectors found twenty-one minutes of the thirty-minute cockpit voice recorder tape blank. The captain of the flight, Harvey "Hoot" Gibson, subsequently came under suspicion for deliberately erasing the tape in an effort to hide incriminating evidence. The voice recorder was never evaluated for any deficiencies. From that moment on, the investigation was focused on the crew to the exclusion of all other evidence. It was an investigation based on rumors, innuendos, and speculation. Eventually the NTSB, despite sworn testimony to the contrary, blamed the crew for the incident by having improperly manipulated the controls; leading to the dive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Odyssey Publishing, LLC
• Release date: Aug 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9780997242157

Reviews for Scapegoat

[theeclecticreview · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a clear case of negligence. After 3 years of interviews and research, the author tells the true story of Flight TWA 841 which almost had a near fatal crash on April 4, 1979. After reading the pilots' details of the event, the interviews of the pilots by FAA agents and others, the false allegations picked up by the media, and the investigation into the near crash, the biased investigators and review board found fault with the pilots.See my complete review at The Eclectic Review

[cherylk_44 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ok first off, this type of book is right up my alley. As many know I am an avid fan of aviation. I enjoy reading stories of aircraft. I am not familiar with the incident of the Boeing 727 and April 4, 1979. Although, this did event did transpire before I was born. What I did like about this book was that while I know about flying as I have taken flying lessons, I was not familiar with TSA or all of the red tape that Captain Hoot and his flight crew had to endure after the incident. It is amazing that anyone really stayed as calm as they did with all of the lies and numerous interviews. Mr. Corsetti really did do his research. It showed within the pages of this book with all of the details. I do agree with another reader that I wavered on this book as on one hand I really liked it but at times it did seem to repeat itself and grow a little cumbersome. Yet my intrigue about finding out the truth and reading a book that is on one of my favorite topics won out and I could endure the repetitiveness.