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area before daylight. The position of 29°13'N and 88°40'W - at which the aircraft went off the military radar scope - was used as a focal point of search.
At Miami, National Airlines prepared one of its Convair aircraft, which left for the area at 0545 under the command of the company's chief pilot. This aircraft was flown to Tampa then out the NL route toward New Orleans to the position of 29°13'N, 88°40'W, at an altitude of 14,000 feet. This position was determined by VOR bearings taken from 14,000 feet altitude. Low frequency bearings were then taken on Grand Isle, on the New Orleans Range Station, and on the Mobile "H" facility, also from 14,000 feet altitude. (These bearings could be duplicated at low altitude; the VOR bearings could not be, due to line-of-sight limitations.)
The aircraft was then spiralled over the spot down to an altitude of 500 feet through a stratus deck with a base of approximately 800 feet, and tops of 1,200 to 1,400 feet. While spiralling, radio contact was established with Coast Guard aircraft although no direct contact was possible with Coast Guard surface vessels due to the lack of compatible radio frequencies. Accordingly, communications between Coast Guard surface vessels and the National Airlines Convair were relayed by Coast Guard aircraft. Coast Guard vessels suggested searching an area some distance to the southwest of the position 29°13'N, 88°40'W.
However, the search party aboard the National Convair had decided that the last known radar position (29°13'N, 88°40'W) should be searched first. Accordingly, the aircraft was flown in a northerly direction for some five to ten miles from the point of spiral-down, whereupon floating debris was seen. This appeared to be bits of upholstery, sound deadening material, and white objects like sponge rubber pillows encased in plastic envelopes. While circling in this general area, several bodies were sighted as well as one liferaft that had been broken out of its case but was not inflated and appeared to be about three-fourths submerged.
Two more liferafts were soon seen in a similar condiiton. An oil slick estimated to be a mile long and possibly 400 yards in width ran in a north-south direction. It appeared that the oil was rising from the northernmost point of this oil slick. All floating debris and bodies were from one-half to two miles east and southeast of this oil slick.
While circling and observing, the National Convair called Coast Guard aircraft with continuous transmission, allowing the latter to home on the area. Some twelve to fifteen minutes later a Coast Guard aircraft arrived and dropped smoke markers. Shortly thereafter a Coast Guard helicopter arrived. The National plane was then spiralled in a climbing turn to 7,000 feet in order to obtain VOR bearings for this position.
These were determined, the aircraft were spiralled down to the same site, and the bearings were radioed to the Coast Guard and plotted on their charts as 29°07'N and 88°33'W. This position is six miles south and about five miles east of the radar-observed descent.
Coast Guard and civil surface craft immediately searched the area exhaustively and retrieved everything sighted. There were nine bodies, a portion of a tenth body, five liferafts, five lifevests, and a highly diversified quantity of buoyant debris entirely from within the cabin and baggage compartments directly below it.
