Air Crash-Gunman Killed Crew Plus Executive

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Picher

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Today, on the Smithsonian Channel, Aircraft Disasters Program, Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 crash investigation showed a handgun barrel being recovered from the crash scene, then the frame and cylinder. I hope it was just a bad reinaction and not the official revolver parts recovered. Why? Because the barrel was from a 44 magnum double-action with full-underlug, but the frame and cylinder was from another handgun with 6 empties, very obviously a Single Action. I couldn't determine the brand/models of each for sure, but the double-action barrel looked like a Taurus. The scene looked like it may have been reconstructed also. The commentator indicated that they were from the same weapon.

There was a piece of flesh from a finger caught in the trigger guard, from which a finger print was lifted, identifying a ground crew employee who had just been fired for theft and a bunch of other infractions. They determined that the guy who fired him was on the flight and it was known that he took the flight on certain days to go back home. The killer still had his I.D. and was able to get on the plane by using the employee bypass to the screening.

The killer wasted the boss, then a stewardess, then the crew. He then pushed the control yoke forward and flew the jet straight down to the ground in a field.

Anyone else seen this show?
 
I was familiar with the crash, but I have not seen this episode of that show.
I have seen numerous of their other episodes, tho'.
I think the show is titled "Air Disasters". And then maybe some subtitles.
There is also an interesting website, if you are interested in that type of thing (air crashes). The site is airdisaster.com
dc
 
FWIW, the revolver used in the video, shown in the aircraft's toilet/mirror looks exactly like a stainless L-Frame S&W; and the "recovered" evidence is a silver single-action revolver with a mainspring I've never seen before - a central coil type, with two opposing legs, much like a clothespin spring.

"Artistic license" one could presume, and nowhere near the truth.



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It seems that the investigators could have "manufactured" evidence to close the case. It seems just too "fortunate" to have a 10 or 12 inch piece of flight recorder tape, enough finger to get a finger print, and a note that escaped destruction. Call me a skeptic.

At the very least, we know that there were either two guns, or the re-creation was flawed. Even the earth disturbance looked fake, more like a swimming pool excavation. No bodies, no blood?

Oh well; more sensationalized disaster programming. About as close to reality as "Survivor" and other pseudo-reality shows.
 
It seems extremely unlikely that any of the set was actual debris/evidence from the crash. It also seems safe to assume that - since most of the viewing public wouldn't notice or care - that the production manager simply got "revolver parts" without paying much attention to where they came from.
It wouldn't be worth the time or energy to get authentic parts just to placate the 5-10 people that would notice.
So, I wouldn't read too much into it.
 
While interesting, this thread is much more about accuracy in re-enactments than firearms. Accordingly, I'm going to go ahead and close it.
 
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