Flight 7 is Missing - by Ken Fortenberry (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The New York Times called it one of the "most vexing and unexplained" mysteries in aviation history, and the crash of Pan American World Airways Flight 7 in November 1957 remains officially unsolved to this day. But Ken Fortenberry, an award-winning journalist whose father was the copilot and navigator aboard the ill-fated Boeing Stratocruiser, has devoted nearly sixty years of his life to unraveling this cold-case mystery, and has come to a staggering conclusion. A remarkably researched book packed with history and emotion, Flight 7 Is Missing: The Search for My Father's Killer is a gripping page-turner that reads like a fast-paced murder mystery. Join the author on his crusade to tirelessly track down every possible lead and eventually expose the person he believes responsible for this tragic crime.

"To we professional pilots routinely flying the oceans of planet earth, the possibility that our loved ones back home might someday be told that our flight is missing is beyond a recurring nightmare. Author Ken Fortenberry yanks you into the dark heart of such a nightmare as he chases the missing answers to a major airline disaster across the cold trails of six decades, all to answer the key question which has haunted him since his early years: Who killed his father. This is a must-read!" - Capt. John J. Nance, Alaska Airlines, Author and Aviation Analyst, ABC World News

Review Quotes

"Throughout the book, Fortenberry examines several different theories behind the crash, including everything from mechanical failure to UFO interference and, ultimately, the possibility that the plane was brought down in an act of murder-suicide by a disgruntled Pan Am employee." --Mitchell Kukulka, Our Midland

"Everyone likes a good mystery, particularly when it involves an actual event. In this case, it's one of the unsolved mysteries of U.S. aviation history. The fact that the author is the son of the co-pilot/navigator on the flight in question obviously makes it something personal. The fact that the aircraft disappeared over the Pacific Ocean on November 8, 1957, only helps to emphasize and enforce the mystery behind it." --Thomas McClung, New York Journal of Books

"No spoilers here, but Fortenberry makes a convincing case for what or whom he believes caused the crash of Flight 7. It was a mystery that needed solving. A former executive editor of the Hattiesburg American (1993-1995) who now lives in Boone, N.C., Fortenberry knows how to tell a story. I recall reviewing his book "Kill the Messenger" for Gannett News Service in 1989 and being impressed with that tale of bigotry and local corruption in a small South Carolina town. With Flight 7 Is Missing, he not only gives readers another fascinating story but he fulfills a half-century-old promise to the father he lost so long ago." --Joe Atkins, Mississippi Free Press

About the Author

A nationally recognized journalist and author, Ken H. Fortenberry spent more than 40 years in the newspaper business and personally earned more than 150 state, regional and national awards for excellence in journalism before his retirement in 2014. His directed newspaper coverage of child molesters teaching in public schools won the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award, the Society of Professional Journalists' (Sigma Delta Chi) Bronze Medallion for Public Service, and the national Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) award for investigative reporting. In 1987 millions of Americans were introduced to his work when he was featured on the CBS News program "60 Minutes," the NBC "Today" show and profiled in the New York Times for his courageous reporting of corruption in a South Carolina sheriff's office that resulted in explosions being set off at his home. He later wrote about his experiences in the critically acclaimed non-fiction book Kill the Messenger, published by Peachtree Publishers, and optioned several times for a TV movie. A Miami native now living in the mountains of North Carolina, he is the coauthor of two investigative stories about the crash of Pan American Flight 7 in the Air and Space Magazine, and is the father of five and the grandfather of eight.