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| The TWA Museum at the Charles B. Wheeler Airport |
Kansas City’s commercial aviation history is rich and fascinating,
and to learn more about it, all you have to do is visit the TWA Museum at the
Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport.
Located at 10 Richards Road, in the same building as TWA’s original headquarters,
the museum is run by two former TWA flight attendants, Pam Blaschum and Mary
Ellen Miller, and spotlights all the major triumphs, tragedies, and headlines
of the once world-famous airline, including its purchase by American Airlines
in 2001.
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| TWA - Airline of the Stars |
Even before you enter the museum, you notice the hallway is covered
with photos of famous celebrities who once flew TWA because it was “the
airline of the stars,” a reputation earned when Howard Hughes owned the
aviation giant.
There are also display cases filled with news articles,
artifacts and many of the “firsts” accomplished by TWA. For example, did you know that in 1934 TWA
was the first commercial airline to adopt the Sperry automatic pilot as
standard equipment to reduce pilot fatigue?
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| Bullet Casing From Flight 847 |
One case holds a bullet casing recovered from TWA Flight
847, hijacked on its way from Athens to Rome on June 14, 1985 by Shiite
Hezbollah terrorists. The two-week
ordeal resulted in the death of one passenger, U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem,
whose body was dumped on a runway in Beirut.
Another case contains newspaper
articles and a photo of TWA flight attendant Nellie Granger. She was aboard a TWA DC-2 on April 7, 1936
bound for Pittsburgh when it crashed into a mountainside just outside of
Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Eleven of the
fourteen people aboard were killed.
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| Nellie Granger |
Nellie was thrown from the plane upon
impact and injured, but she reentered the burning wreckage to save the other
two survivors – the wife of the mayor of Newark and a man with two broken
legs. Afterwards, she trudged through dense
woodlands to get help and then back again with the rescuers. In all, Nellie walked eleven miles
that day.
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| Pope John Paul II Flies TWA |
The museum itself consists of three fairly compact rooms and
a small gift shop. Two of the rooms are
filled with photos, vintage uniforms, airplane equipment, memorabilia, and
artifacts from some of TWA’s most memorable flights, such as the one that
transported Pope John Paul II.
The third room is dedicated to TWA founders Paul Richter, Jack
Frye, and Walter Hamilton with a small memorial by its entrance to the
employees of Flight 800 who perished on July 17, 1996, shortly after the plane
left New York for Paris.
The museum takes approximately 60-90 minutes to tour, is
better suited for adults than children and does a nice job of keeping TWA’s company
history and spirit alive.
SPRING & SUMMER HOURS
March 1 – September 30
Monday – Saturday
10AM - 4PM
FALL & WINTER HOURS
October 1 – February 28
Tuesday – Saturday
10AM - 4PM
Call to schedule a Special Tour
Closed Holidays.
Admission
Adults $5.00
Children 6-12 $3.00
Seniors $3.00
Military(w/ID) FREE
