I flew as a flight engineer for ONA on the L-188 electra. It was a cargo version doing work for both the Airforce and the Navy. That was in 1967-68. Ona also flew the DC-9 , DC-8, and DC 10 aircraft. ONA lost a DC-10 on takeoff at JFK, it hit a flock of seagulls which stalled the engines and the airplane lost altitude and slammed into the runway. The airplane burned to the ground, but all personel got out of the aircraft. A deadheading engineer in the junp seat was filming the takeoff and recorded the whole incident. His name was Benjamin Conatser. This incident hit ONA particularly hard because of the millions of dollars worth of spare parts for the Haji operation in Saudi Arabia. To the best of my recollection ONA went out of business in about 1974-76 time period, can't pin point it exactly for I was hired by another company in 1969 and left ONA. The L188 chief engineer was Jack Antablian and then later this position was held by Mr. John Stump. I hope this helps getting the ONA memories started.

--went to NAL

Hi! I am the webmaster of the crew web of both Overseas National Airways and International Aior Bahama - both airlines are now out of traffic - we have crew reunions all over the world and are reunited on webrings on the internet via emails! Many of us hadn't met in 35 years!!

Best regards
Elisabeth Karlson
Oterdahlsgatan 29
417 16 Gothenburg Sweden

I flew flight attendant 66-67 with ONA and 68-70 with Air Bahama - you are welcome to use any of the material published on our website giving source of prigina, ours or other.

--Elisabeth ONA/IAB

I worked for ONA in their Interline Department for 3 years in the mid Super70s. ONA also owned the Delta Queen Riverboat. My job was to get crews to their plane on time and also to handle the ONA employee requests for discounted or free travel. They were great days.

--Judi Lyman

i worked for ona 1970-73. . . I was a crew scheduler in norfolk, and co-ordinator for base ops at warner robbins AFB in GA, these were govt contracts, for logair and Quicktrans, cargo only. we had some great times, the crews were terrific, we used only the DC9's and L188's, I am sad to find out it no longer flies, I thought it would go on forever.

The L188's were regular old work horses, I used to love dead-heading on them, they were REAL airplanes. The company did some horse charters using the L188's, the DC9 crew members used to say they new a L188 crew member by the smell of horse dung, cheeky devils.

--pamela

I started flying for ONA as a flight attendant right out of college in 1974 until they went out of business in 1978. To this day, this was the most exciting and fun job I ever had! As a young college graduate, I had the opportunity to fill my passport with hundreds of different country's stamps. The things I saw, and the friendships I made while I was with the airline are embedded in my memory and is something I can take into old age.

What made my experience really special was that I met my first wife at ONA cabin training. As far as I know, we were the only married flight attendant couple working for the airline. We weren't married at the time, but she was on the DC-10 that crashed at JFK. I had just dropped her off at operations, as she and about 150 other ONAer's were enroute to Saudi Arabia for the Hadj. I heard the newsflash on the radio as I was driving home and made a beeline back to ONA operations in Jamaica. Can't tell you how happy I was to see her and everyone else alive! If it wasn't for the outstanding skill of Capt. "Stinky" Davis, it might have turned out much different.

We were married shortly after. Unfortunately, when ONA dissolved, so did my marriage. But I'll never forget the incredible experience I had and all the fantastic people I worked with at ONA. I just wish I still had my old flight crew logbook so I could recall the names of all the crews I flew with. I am now an air traffic control supervisor in Fort Worth, TX, but will always cherish my experiences flying for ONA!

--Gene Kasson