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In July 1969, the Boise Chamber of Commerce hosted a fly-in breakfast that took businesspeople from the area by plane to Smiley Creek, the highest tributary to the Salmon River. By all reports, the breakfast was a success, with more than 30 planes landing on the dirt strip to deposit guests for a morning repast.
In addition to the businesspeople in attendance, Idaho Director of Aeronautics Chet Moulton, Idaho Wheat Commissioner Harold West, and Secretary of State Pete Cenarussa were there. Cenarussa, a sheep rancher who flew himself in, got a little flack from the hosts about whether or not he’d been looking for sheep on the way to Smiley Creek.
Bob Lorimer, the Statesman staff writer who attended, wrote, “Everything clicked. The crisp, cool air was invigorating. The smell of bacon, eggs, and hash brown potatoes had that special 7,100-ft altitude aroma.”
Lorimer joked that he’d saved himself six-bits when he opted for a $15,000 insurance policy for the day, rather than the one that cost two dollars for $25,000. He was on his way home from the airport when he noticed a spiral of white smoke on the foothills. He didn’t think much of it, assuming it was just another grass fire.
Dozens of people in Boise had seen what Lorimer missed. Two small planes returning from the breakfast met wing-to-wing in mid-air over Boise’s North End.
The two planes glance off in different directions into the residential area, one narrowly missing a kindergarten. Miraculously, though debris fell out of the sky for blocks, there was little damage and no injuries on the ground.
One of the planes, a Model V35 Beechcraft Bonanza, clipped a power pole and nosed into a field behind a home at 61 E Horizon Drive, bursting into flames. Aboard were the pilot, Kenneth F. Flannery of LaGrande Oregon, Donald J. Ruzicka, of Milwaukie, Oregon, Dr. R.M. Kingland of 1821 Edgecliff Terrace, Boise, and Vincent Aguirre, 3509 Windsor Drive, Boise, co-owner of the Royal Restaurant.
The second plane, a Cessna 210E piloted by Basil P. W. Clapin, 3321 North Cole Road, Boise, plunged to earth on Fifth Street near the intersection with Union. Boise Attorney Eugene C. Smith, 7105 Brookover Drive, was also on board.
All six men in Idaho’s first mid-air collision were killed.
Many Boise residents witnessed the crash and marveled that no one on the ground was hurt by the debris that rained down.
John Larsen saw the aftermath of the crash and wrote a first person story about it for Idaho Magazine. You can read that here.
The first mid-air collision in Idaho wouldn’t be the last. Three mid-air collisions occurred over central Idaho, one in 2008 that killed three people, and collisions in 2013 and 2014 that killed one person each. In 2020, the state’s worst mid-air collision happened over Lake Coeur d’Alene, killing 8.
Cessna 210E plunged to earth on Fifth Street near the intersection with Union. ITD archival photo.
A Model V35 Beechcraft Bonanza clipped a power pole and nosed into a field behind a home on Horizon Drive, bursting into flames. ITD archival photo.
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