A last email from aviator Pamela Riddle Bird
A dire premonition is the rest of the story. A last email from Dr. Pamela Riddle Bird to Burt and Tonya Rutan, just 62 minutes before Bird took off from the Bird Aviation Museum’s airstrip with close flight instructor friends Tookie and Don Hensley, gives a glimpse into her own life with her husband, Dr. Forrest Bird, who died in August this year. It also shows her empathy with Tonya, who until just before the flight, was slated to accompany them to Maine. Ten minutes after takeoff, Bird’s Cessna 182 was lost from radar contact and its Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) started transmitting a distress signal/Mike Satren, special to Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.
