Charles Burlingame

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Charles Frank "Chic" Burlingame III (September 12, 1949 - September 11, 2001) was the pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, the aircraft that was crashed by terrorists into the Pentagon during the September 11, 2001 attacks.

[edit] Personal life

Burlingame was born in St. Paul, Minnesota[1], moved around a lot while growing up as a son of an active duty member of the United States Air Force.[1] He spent parts of his childhood in California and England.[1] Burlingame graduated from Anaheim High School in California.[2]

Charles Burlingame graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1971.[3] In the Navy, he flew F-4 Phantom jets, rising to the rank of captain.[1] In 1979, Burlingame left Active Duty with the Navy and took a job with American Airlines.[2] Though, he remained in the Naval Reserves. Burlingame was called up during the Gulf War.[1] Burlingame also spent time working in The Pentagon, while in the Naval Reserves.[4]

Burlingame retired as a Navy Reserve Captain in 1996 and worked at American Airlines.[5] Burlingame was married to an American Airlines flight attendant, Sheri Burlingame.[6]

[edit] September 11, 2001 attacks

Burlingame was the pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, with First Officer David Charlebois,[7] before it was hijacked and flown into the Pentagon.[8]. Burlingame was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery. He was initially deemed ineligible for burial there due to his status as a reservist deceased at an age younger than 60, but Burlingame was given a waiver and this case triggered reform of Arlington's burial criteria.[9]

Charles Burlingame has been singled out as conspiring in 9/11 conspiracy theories. His sister, Debra, remarked about the Loose Change video, "The only thing they (the filmmakers) seem to have gotten right about the Sept. 11 attacks is the date when they occurred...They aren't truth-tellers looking to save the world. They're con artists hoping to sucker conspiracy-theory paranoids or anti-government malcontents into shelling out their hard-earned dollars."[10] His daughter, Wendy Burlingame remarked "Reading the conspiracy theories regarding my father have made me and my family sick. We realize this is being done by sick individuals who need to deal with 9-11 in a different way than others. It does not make it any easier when you read your father was involved with the terrorists when you Google his name. I hope the people who write these things can sleep well at night."[11]

On December 5, 2006, Wendy Burlingame died in a suspicious fire at her apartment in Guttenberg, New Jersey.[12][13]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Nelson, Todd, Phillip Pina. "Twin Citians Mourn, Await News of Victims", Saint Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota), September 12, 2001.
  2. ^ a b "Bradley and Debra Burlingame talk about their brother, Charles, who was the American Airlines pilot for Flight 77 (transcript)", NBC News, Today Show, September 13, 2001.
  3. ^ Gottlieb, Sandra. "Local doctor's brother piloted ill-fated flight", Lancaster New Era, September 12, 2001.
  4. ^ King, Larry, Amy S. Rosenberg, Jonathan Gelb. "Pilot whose jet hit Pentagon had worked there", The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 13, 2001.
  5. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/specials/attacked/victims/v_150.html
  6. ^ Levine, Susan. "Flight 77: Hope Replaced by Grief; Among the Dead From Jetliner Are Lawyers and Engineers, Couples and Children", The Washington Post, September 13, 2001.
  7. ^ National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (2004). "Chapter 1", 9/11 Commission Report. Government Printing Office. 
  8. ^ http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/cfburling3.htm
  9. ^ http://www.house.gov/chrissmith/news/press2001/prburial.htm/
  10. ^ "Conspiracy film rewrites Sept. 11", USA Today, April 29, 2006.
  11. ^ Loosers Yuck It Up Over Box Cutters; Get Put In Place by Pilot's Daughter. Screw Loose Change (July 12, 2006).
  12. ^ Feuer, Alan, Nate Schweber. "Daughter of 9/11 Flight Pilot Is Found Dead After a Fire", The New York Times, December 6, 2006.
  13. ^ Ben-Ali, Russell. "Daughter of pilot killed on 9/11 dies in Hudson apartment fire", Newark Star-Ledger, December 6, 2006.
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