CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

No doubt the lingering question in this chronicle is: Who or what caused Eastern Flight 980 to crash? Was it unknowingly flown into the mountainside, or was it blown out of the sky? After all the pieces are assembled, I believe this catastrophe was the genesis of a series of events that not only caused the Flight 980 disaster, but ultimately brought the entire airline down. We may never know that answer as to the exact cause, although the extent of the official cover-up indicates those in power at the time truly believed and, as important, continue to believe, that the flight was sabotaged. And, if this were substantiated, their entire conspiracy would have been laid bare.

Borman had to shoulder a good portion of the responsibility no matter what the cause, something he was unwilling to accept. So, with the hushed assistance of his inner circle of powerful Washington politicians, who were only interested in covering their tracks to make certain they could never be held accountable, he assisted in keeping the cause hidden, forever. Such is the awesome, sometimes corrupt power of the United States government.

The entire plot to obscure the absolute truth probably would have worked, except for the likes of Ray Valdes, Jerry Loeb and Judith Kelly, who are the real heroes of this painful and sad saga. They were the ones who first raised the still-unanswered questions.