Mr. Houle's contentions are explained in detail in the two newspaper
articles, especially the one in the Spartanburg paper. Look at the
website referenced there. Read all the articles and listen to the audio
tapes. My belief is that the NTSB exeronated the Piedmont crew not
because they were blameless, but because of an inappropirate relation
between the lead investigator and a Piedmont executive in charge of
crash investigations. This case has troubled a lot of people for years.
The so-called four-second gap in the Cessna tape is disputed by another
government agency. Their copy of the tape shows that the Cessna pilot
clearly gave his heading to the Asheville ATC. There was no four-second
gap. I think that is crucial. The Cessna pilot had more flying
experience than the Piedmont pilot. He trained other pilots in World
War Two and was known as a meticulous and careful pilot. It's unlikely
he would have made such a dumb mistake as being twelve miles off course
if the ATC had given him the correct information. And yet, the NTSB
placed most of the blame on him with some responsibility on the
controller (who was promoted within the FAA). It seems curious that the
records in this case have been sealed all these years. Maybe Mr.
Houle's efforts will re-open this case.