Aviation Hall of Fame to add three pilots

On Nov. 10, Harold Johnson will mark the 45th anniversary of the hijacking of Southern Airways Flight 49 on which he was the co-pilot.

The anniversary will come a day after Johnson and two other Arkansas aviators will be inducted into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Little Rock that the Arkansas Historical Aviation Society holds to help raise money for scholarships for aviation students.

Going into the hall with Johnson are Warren native Zane Anderson, who pioneered the development of civil helicopter operations in the state, and the late William Y. Smith, a Hot Springs native who was severely wounded when his U.S. Air Force fighter was hit by anti-aircraft fire in the Korean War. Smith went on to retire from the service as a four-star general.

All three are deserving of their induction, said Richard Holbert, who runs Central Flying Service and helped establish the honor.

“Inductees into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame are chosen by the Society’s board of directors because each of the inductees has made significant contributions to the development of aviation either in the state or the nation,” he said.

Johnson, 82, who also assisted in opening a museum at the Walnut Ridge Regional Airport to preserve the history of the airport as a World War II primary pilot training base, said he was both “surprised and honored” to be selected.

He also said he is lucky to be alive.

HAROLD JOHNSON

On Nov. 10, 1972, long before airports have the robust security they have now, Johnson was the co-pilot on a DC9 en route from Memphis to Miami when it was hijacked during a stop in Birmingham, Ala., by three men armed with handguns and grenades.

The aircraft, which had four crew members and 27 passengers aboard, eventually flew to nine U.S. cities, Toronto and, finally, to Havana. During the flight, the hijackers threatened to crash the plane into the nuclear facility at Oak Ridge, Tenn., and demanded a $10 million ransom.

The hijackers settled for $2 million and freed the crew and passengers in Cuba. From there, the crew and passengers returned to the United States.

During the 30-hour, 4,000-mile odyssey, Johnson was shot in the arm. He recalled blacking out briefly when he was shot and regaining consciousness with a good bit of relief.

“It was a good feeling to still be alive,” Johnson said. “It made me appreciate life a whole lot more. I knew he was going to kill me.”

Johnson said the hijacker wanted to shoot him again, but another hijacker interrupted and ordered the plane to take off. But the pilot said he couldn’t fly without his co-pilot, Johnson said. With that, Johnson made his way to the cockpit, and they took off.

He flew his last airline flight in 1982, but it would be several years before he began his next chapter in aviation, helping establish the Walnut Ridge Army Flying School Museum, now called the Wings of Honor Museum.

At the urging of the airport manager, Johnson was among a half-dozen Walnut Ridge residents who developed the idea of a museum to serve as a tribute to World War II pilots, their planes and the personnel who supported their mission.

Walnut Ridge Army Airfield, a facility with three 5,000-foot runways that was designed to accommodate 5,000 military personnel and 1,000 civilians, was activated in August 1942 as a basic flight training school. It accepted its first aviation cadet class in October 1942.

By the time its 18th and final class graduated 21 months later, on June 27, 1944, the school had graduated 4,641 of the 5,310 students who began training. A total of 42 students, instructors and passengers were killed in 105 training accidents.

At the end of the war, the base was used to dispose up to 10,000 aircraft the Army Air Corps no longer needed.

While the initial focus was on preserving the history of airport as a training base, Johnson said the museum’s mission has expanded to include a broader look back at that era, including telling the story of the other training bases in Arkansas.

The two other members of the class also made their mark on aviation.

WILLIAM Y. SMITH

Smith, who was born in Hot Springs on Aug. 13, 1925, lost his right foot at the ankle from wounds when his U.S. Air Force F-84 Thunderjet was hit by anti-aircraft fire during his 97th combat mission of the Korean War in 1952. He managed to land his stricken aircraft on North Korean soil before being picked up by a U.S. helicopter.

Smith, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, spent the ensuing nine months in military hospitals, where his right foot was amputated above the ankle, according to an obituary in The Washington Post. He was fitted with a prosthetic foot and ankle.

He would never fly again, but he chose to remain in the Air Force. He taught at West Point, received a doctorate from Harvard University and served as a junior staff member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the National Security Council.

Smith was on the negotiating team that led to the Limited Test Ban Treaty in 1963. In 1994, he co-authored a book about the Cuban Missile Crisis entitled Operation Anadyr, which was the code name the Soviet Union used for its secret 1962 mission to deploy ballistic missiles in Cuba.

Smith served as chief of staff for Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe and deputy commander in chief of the U.S. European Command before retiring as a four-star general.

He died on Jan. 19, 2016, in Falls Church, Va., at age 90.

ZANE ANDERSON

Anderson led the development of civil helicopter operations in Arkansas, eventually operating Chopper 7, the state’s first and only dedicated electronic news gathering helicopter.

Born in Warren in Bradley County in 1948, Anderson has been an aviator his entire life after teaching himself how to fly.

He has served as an aircraft and helicopter owner and operator, flight instructor, designated flight examiner and mentor to people who wanted to fly. Anderson is rated in gliders and sea planes as well as hot air balloons.

He has been the leading helicopter operator in the state since forming his company, Aerial Patrol, in 1983. He has flown for hospitals, television stations, law enforcement and for more than 30 years conducted power-line patrol and other hazardous operations for Entergy Arkansas.

The latest inductees will bring to 106 the number of men and women who have been inducted into Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame since 1980.

The ceremony will begin with a reception from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., followed by the induction at the Ron Robinson Theater, 100 Rock St., in Little Rock. Tickets are $50 per person. They can be purchased online at the Arkansas Aviation Historical Society website at www. arkavhs.com.

Proceeds from the event fund scholarships for students enrolled in the aviation degree programs at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia and Ozarka College in Melbourne.