When a family survived a wilderness crash in California in 1967 in their Cessna 195, only to die while waiting for rescue that never came, their story brought home the need for general aviation aircraft to carry ELTs, says Alaska author Ross Nixon. In his book, “Finding Carla,” now in bookstores, Nixon details what went wrong, how the survivors coped with being lost and alone, and the impact of their fate. The story reveals “the blood behind the regulations for ELTs,” says Nixon. The pilot, Alvin Oien Sr., died while trying to find his way to help, and his wife, Phyllis, and step-daughter Carla Corbus perished at the crash site. They left behind letters and diaries that were found six months later, and surviving members of the family spoke to Nixon as he completed his research.
This is the first book for Nixon, who makes his living as a commercial pilot in Alaska. “The story is a chilling story,” Nixon told AVweb in an interview. He remembers his father talking about the crash when it happened. “It’s a story that bothered me and haunted me all my life, but I could never find out much about it.” During his research, he visited the crash site, interviewed surviving family members and read through all the preserved documents. The book is for sale on Amazon and will be featured at Barnes & Noble in October, Nixon said. It will soon be available as an e-book. “Hopefully people will love it,” said Nixon. “It’s really a good story. It’s not just about flying, it’s got some interesting human elements.”
