Ken Fortenberry

Last updated

Ken H. Fortenberry
Born
Miami, Florida, U.S.
OccupationBusinessman
Spouse
Anna Fortenberry
(m. 1975)
Children5

Kenneth Hale Fortenberry (born 1951) is an author, journalist, and former newspaper publisher residing in Georgia. He was the owner and publisher of news@norman, an weekly newspaper serving the Denver and the West Lake Norman area of North Carolina. [1] He sought the Republican nomination for North Carolina's 10th congressional district in 2012, losing to incumbent Patrick McHenry in the primary. He ran for Governor of North Carolina as a Libertarian in the 2016 election, but withdrew in August 2015.

Contents

Early life

Born in Miami, Florida, Fortenberry grew up in Spartanburg, South Carolina. His father was a Pan American World Airways pilot, and his mother was a housewife. [2]

Newspaper career

As a journalist, Fortenberry has won several awards. [3] [4] [5] [6] While serving as executive editor of the Winter Haven News Chief, the newspaper landed the coveted Sigma Delta Chi Bronze Medallion in Public Service for a series about teachers with past felonies and other criminal records who were working in the state of Florida. The investigative reports led to legislation requiring better screening for those being considered for hiring. [7]

Author

Fortenberry gained international recognition in 1987 when his house was rocked by two explosions because of stories he published in the McCormick (S.C.) Messenger. [8] His coverage of corruption in local law enforcement led to a federal prison term for the sheriff, the bribery conviction of the sheriff's replacement, the exposure of the chief deputy as an ex-convict, and changes in state law enforcement certification. [9]

Fortenberry was featured on the CBS News program 60 Minutes , the NBC Today show, and his story was reported in dozens of publications including Newsweek and The New York Times . [10] A book he wrote about the experience, Kill the Messenger, was published in 1989 by Peachtree Publishers LTD of Atlanta and has been under option for a TV movie. [11]

In "The Mystery of the Lost Clipper", an article co-written by Fortenberry and Dr. Gregg Herken, the authors offer evidence of possible causes of the 1957 fatal crash of Pan Am Flight 7, en route from San Francisco, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii. Fortenberry's father, William, was the second officer and navigator of this flight. The article was featured in the September 2004 issue of Air & Space magazine. [12] Fortenberry and Herken authored a follow-up article, "What Happened to Pan Am Flight 7?", in the January 2017 edition of Air & Space. [13]

His latest book, Flight 7 is Missing: The Search for My Father's Killer, is the result of his lifelong search for the probable cause of the 1957 Pan American plane crash that killed his father and 43 others aboard. It was published on May 19, 2020, by Fayetteville Mafia Press of New York City. [14]

Politics

Fortenberry ran against incumbent U.S. Representative Patrick McHenry in the Republican primary for North Carolina's 10th congressional district in 2012. McHenry defeated him by 58,844 votes (72.5%) to 15,936 (19.6%). [15] [16] [17] [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan Am</span> Former primary international airline of the United States (1927-1991)

Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for much of the 20th century. It was the first airline to fly worldwide and pioneered numerous innovations of the modern airline industry, such as jumbo jets and computerized reservation systems. Until its dissolution on December 4, 1991, Pan Am "epitomized the luxury and glamour of intercontinental travel", and it remains a cultural icon of the 20th century, identified by its blue globe logo, the use of the word "Clipper" in its aircraft names and call signs, and the white uniform caps of its pilots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenerife airport disaster</span> 1977 runway collision in Spain and deadliest crash in aviation history

The Tenerife airport disaster occurred on March 27, 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The collision occurred when KLM Flight 4805 initiated its takeoff run during dense fog while Pan Am Flight 1736 was still on the runway. The impact and resulting fire killed everyone on board KLM 4805 and most of the occupants of Pan Am 1736, with only 61 survivors in the front section of the aircraft, resulting in the worst aviation disaster in Spain. With 583 fatalities, the disaster is also the deadliest accident in aviation history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boeing 377 Stratocruiser</span> US airliner with 4 piston engines, 1947

The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser was a large long-range airliner developed from the C-97 Stratofreighter military transport, itself a derivative of the B-29 Superfortress. The Stratocruiser's first flight was on July 8, 1947. Its design was advanced for its day; its relatively innovative features included two passenger decks and a pressurized cabin. It could carry up to 100 passengers on the main deck plus 14 in the lower deck lounge; typical seating was for 63 or 84 passengers or 28 berthed and five seated passengers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edwin Musick</span> American pilot

Edwin Charles Musick was chief pilot for Pan American World Airways and pioneered many of Pan Am's transoceanic routes including the famous route across the Pacific Ocean, ultimately reaching the Philippine Islands, on the China Clipper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan Am Flight 214</span> 1963 aviation accident

Pan Am Flight 214 was a scheduled flight of Pan American World Airways from Isla Verde International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Friendship Airport near Baltimore, and then to Philadelphia International Airport. On December 8, 1963, the Boeing 707-121 serving the flight crashed near Elkton, Maryland, while flying from Baltimore to Philadelphia, after being hit by lightning. All 81 occupants of the plane were killed. The crash was Pan Am's first fatal accident with the 707, which it had introduced to its fleet five years earlier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marseille Provence Airport</span> International airport serving Marseille, France

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Maxine Burnett Moul is an American politician who served as the 34th lieutenant governor of Nebraska from 1991 to 1993, the first woman to hold that position in the state. Moul is a member of the Democratic Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan Am Flight 103</span> Transatlantic flight terrorist bombed in 1988

Pan Am Flight 103 (PA103/PAA103) was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by Clipper Maid of the Seas, a Boeing 747 registered N739PA. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, while the aircraft was in flight over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, it was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew in what became known as the Lockerbie bombing. Large sections of the aircraft crashed in a residential street in Lockerbie, killing 11 residents. With a total of 270 fatalities, it is the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin M-130</span> Flying boat

The Martin M-130 was a commercial flying boat designed and built in 1935 by the Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore, Maryland, for Pan American Airways. Three were built: the China Clipper, the Philippine Clipper and the Hawaii Clipper. All three had crashed by 1945. A similar flying boat design called the Martin 156) and named Russian Clipper, was built for the Soviet Union; it had a larger wing and twin vertical stabilizers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan Am Flight 151</span> 1951 aviation accident

On June 22, 1951, Pan Am Flight 151, flown by the Lockheed L-049 Constellation propliner Clipper Great Republic crashed into a West African hill at an elevation of 1,050 ft (320 m) near the village of Sanoyie in Bong County, Liberia. All 31 passengers and nine crew on board were killed.

<i>The Sanford Herald</i>

The Sanford Herald is a newspaper published Tuesdays through Saturdays in Sanford, North Carolina. The Sanford Herald has a daily circulation of just over 9,000 and is published Tuesday through Saturday, and has published continuously since 1930. The Herald is a member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations and the North Carolina Press Association. It is published by the Paxton Media Group of Paducah, Kentucky. The paper announced on Dec. 8, 2019 that it would stop publishing a Sunday edition as of Jan. 7, 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan Am Flight 7</span> 1957 plane crash in the Pacific Ocean

Pan Am Flight 7 was a westbound round-the-world flight operated by Pan American World Airways. On November 8, 1957, the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser 10-29 serving the flight, named Clipper Romance of the Skies, crashed in the Pacific Ocean en route to Honolulu International Airport from San Francisco. The crash killed all 36 passengers and eight crew members.

<i>Times-News</i> (Burlington, North Carolina) Newspaper published in Burlington, North Carolina

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan Am Flight 812</span> 1974 passenger plane crash in Denpasar, Indonesia

Pan Am Flight 812 (PA812), operated by a Pan American World Airways Boeing 707-321B registered N446PA and named Clipper Climax, was a scheduled international flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, California, with intermediate stops at Denpasar, Sydney, Nadi, and Honolulu. The airplane briefly appeared in the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie in 1971. On April 22, 1974, it crashed into rough mountainous terrain while preparing for a runway 09 approach to Denpasar after a 4-hour 20-minute flight from Hong Kong. All 107 people on board perished. The location of the accident was about 42.5 nautical miles northwest of Ngurah Rai International Airport. Until the 1991 Jakarta Indonesian Air Force C-130 crash, it was the deadliest aviation accident to happen on Indonesian soil.

Pan Am Flight 1104, trip no. 62100, was a Martin M-130 flying boat nicknamed the Philippine Clipper that crashed on the morning of January 21, 1943, in Northern California. The aircraft was operated by Pan American Airways and was carrying ten US Navy personnel from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to San Francisco, California. The aircraft crashed in poor weather into mountainous terrain about 7 mi (11 km) southwest of Ukiah, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan Am Flight 217</span> 1968 aviation accident

Pan Am Flight 217 was a Boeing 707 that crashed near Caracas, Venezuela while on a flight from New York City, USA on December 12, 1968. Though pilot error was to blame, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded the probable cause was undetermined. There were no survivors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">China Clipper flight departure site</span> Historic airstrip in Alameda, California, USA

The China Clipper flight departure site is listed as California Historical Landmark number 968. It is the site from which Pan American World Airways initiated trans-Pacific airmail service on November 22, 1935. A flying boat named China Clipper made the first trip, and the publicity for that flight caused all flying boats on that air route to become popularly known as China Clippers. For a few years, this pioneering mail service captured the public imagination like the earlier Pony Express, and offered fast luxury travel like the later Concorde.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan Am Flight 121</span> 1947 aviation accident

Pan Am Flight 121 was a scheduled Pan American World Airways flight from Karachi to Istanbul. On the evening of June 18, 1947, the Lockheed L-049 Constellation serving the flight, known as the Clipper Eclipse, suffered an engine failure. This led to the overheating of the remaining engines until one caught fire, which spread to the aircraft. The heat from burning magnesium parts caused the engine to fall from the aircraft, leaving it unable to maintain altitude. Early in the morning of June 19, 1947 the plane crashed in the Syrian desert 4 miles from the town of Mayadin. Fifteen people were killed, including 7 crew and 8 passengers. The three surviving crew members were third officer Gene Roddenberry, the chief purser, and one flight attendant. After rescuing passengers from the burning wreckage, Roddenberry took control as the ranking flight officer and organized scout parties to find aid. By midday, the Syrian Army took the survivors to the hospital at Deir ez-Zor. The majority returned to the United States quickly while Roddenberry remained in Syria for two weeks to answer questions about the crash from the local government.

<i>Carolina Peacemaker</i> African-American weekly newspaper published in Greensboro

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References

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  9. Clendinen, Dudley; Times, Special To the New York (January 13, 1987). "Town Resists Bearer of Bad News". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 26, 2020.
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  11. "The World's Largest Book Database - ISBN Database | ISBNdb". isbndb.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  12. Herken, Gregg; Fortenberry, Ken. "The Mystery of the Lost Clipper". History of Flight. Air & Space/Smithsonian . Archived from the original on August 16, 2008.
  13. Herken, Gregg; Fortenberry, Ken. "What Happened to Pan Am Flight 7?". Smithsonian Magazine .
  14. "Flight 7 Is Missing" . Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. "2012 North Carolina 10th Congressional District | NumbersUSA - for Lower Immigration Levels".
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  18. "lincolntimesnews.com | Lincoln County's Home Newspaper". Lincoln Times News. Retrieved October 21, 2022.