Mt Whitney Zone Forums The Chat Room The Legendary Story of Lodestar Lightning - Plane Crash

I'm just curious if anyone on the Whitney Zone was in Yosemite when the following plane crashed. [ Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on September 19, 2007 - 2:01am [/size] Taken from: http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/review/2007/wall-death-yosemite

The Lodestar Lightning case evolved from the backcountry crash in December 1976 of a vintage Lockheed PV-1 Ventura that had been designed to serve as a light bomber and sub spotter. In this case, though, the plane's cargo was marijuana, bales and bales of marijuana. Killed when the plane went down in Lower Merced Pass Lake were pilot Jon Scott Glisky, 31, of Seattle, and his passenger, Jeffrey Carl Nelson, 29.

What made the case highly sensational was not the deaths of the two men, tragic as they were, but rather the efforts by more than a few Yosemite regulars to reach the lake and make off with some of the "Lodestar Lightning" before rangers could retrieve the marijuana from the lake.

Yep, I was there then. Rumor had it that a lot of Camp 4 folks financed a lot of climbing equipment and even some down payments on houses from that gold rush. Can't quite remember but I think there's a fictionalized account (Long??) written about it and Howard Weamer devotes a fairly long section to it in his The Perfect Art: Ostrander Hut and skiing in Yosemite.

It took the NPS a couple of months after the crash to realize what was going on. It was a drought year, so pretty easy to get to the site (Lower Merced Pass Lake). Although NPS arrested a few people after a raid at the lake, I don't think anyone was ever convicted.

George

The book was Nevada Barr's "High Country". Of course I've read it. Actually all of them.

There is an interesting account here, complete with coords.

Nevada Barr, right. But the one I was thinking of was Jeff Long's Angels of Light. Also just ran across this longer excerpt from Mountain Gazette on this forum:

Lodestar part 1

There are some who think one of the climbers who died on a SAR was actually murdered as a result of supposedly having an address book or something in his possession from the wreck, but that story has always seemed a stretch to me.

But, anyway, another addition to the colorful history of Yosemite.

g.

George, Wow....awesome to hear you and wagga know about the Lodestar Lighting. I'm not sure if that's the name of the plane or the type of pot on board.

I wonder if there are any remnants of the plane crash left at or near the sight.

Wagga, thank you for the link to the Nevada Barr novels. This type of reading is right up my alley. I'll have to pick up one of these books soon. I really enjoyed, "Off the Wall in Yosemite", I couldn't put it down.

Read the Barr novels in chrono order if you can. Actually, make that mandatory.

Lynn, you asked a question in a PM, then opted out of the thread. The answer, in any case, is yes.

Army Air Force C60 version of Lockheed Lodestar.

Actually, the plane was a Howard 500, not a Lodestar nor a PV-1 Ventura. I have the history of ownership of the aircraft from the FCC.

The event at Lower Merced Pass Lake was real. I have been researching the crash and the events leading up to and following it since 2005. For those that say you were there at the time, I'd be most interested in talking to you about your stories. I'm not interested in names, only stories.

I can be reached at the following email address or phone number:

Rick Schloss
San Jose, CA
ricknie@aol.com
408-295-1501

I believe the definitive thread on the subject was started by Licky on Supertopo, where the Yos folks hang out:

http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/73572/1977-Airplane-Crash-in-Yosemite

1600+ posts, plus many pictures and first person stories

How goes the book?

Ken its a slow grind. Just when I think I'm on to a great discovery, it falls apart due to either wrong/incorrect information. In a lot of cases its been missing info from the results of my FOIA requests to gov. agencies. Funny thing though. One of the agencies that really stepped up to the plate was the DEA. Who would have guessed? A few such as the FAA told me they had no files on the plane....turns out that is because they sent me all of the originals before my FIOA request.

What In The World Happened Here? CI:  (Link)
wagga

Yep Alan, that is the place. There are so many stories surrounding this event that most Hollywood script writers couldn't hold a candle to what really went on.

Any chance that the book is going to be published? Have you thought about doing an internet publication in installments?

Licky: Look for a PM.

tdtz...I'm still witting. My priority is to get the story and the facts straight. I've spoken with a few Internet companies that do self publishing, but only to find out about them. You see, I'm not a writer by profession. At the same time I've not approached a publishing firm nor an agent because I don't want them breathing down my neck about when will the draft or the book be finished? I keep tripping and stumbling on new information that opens up more doors.

For example. The NTSB published their finding on what caused the crash in the first place. The problem is that the guy that had the contract for the salvage operation told me that only a few Park Rangers and his crew where there when the plan was hauled out and cut into pieced to be air lifted out. The plane was never reassembled to determine what caused the crash. FOIA requests yielded nothing. The pilot's wife sued the company that performed the maintenance on the "faulty engine" and Howard Aero, the company that built the plane all settled out of court. So it has never really been determined why the plane crashed. This is something that I have been exploring.

wagga..I'd send you an email, but you are over your limit

Just reply on the same thread...

Wagga...I'm looking for those that were in the melay at the time. I'm not interested in names, only stories. So if you have some that are of first person POV, I'd like to talk to you.

John Glisky was my neighbor when we were kids. He was one very intense individual who did it all twice in his very short and amazing life. I know the real true story about the plane, the family and what really happened.

So, umm, is this an invitation for someone to reply "Care to elucidate?"

Okay, I'll bite:

Care to elucidate?