Yes, we’d done as we were told. The hushed voice on the phone had promised a copy the 2019 Golden File from the Official Office of Plane Safety (OOPS)—the nearly magical file that contained that august organization’s conclusions as to which nonfatal aircraft accidents were the result of the most boneheaded moves by people who professed to be pilots.
It was midnight, the time prescribed for the handoff. Guided by the light of a full moon, we’d found the hole in the perimeter fence, entered the aircraft boneyard, and located the designated fuselage—all that remained of a pranged Cessna Caravan. Crouching, we passed through the cargo door and, in the moonlight, saw a bent Piper Cherokee control yoke lying on the floor. Following instructions, we deposited the agreed upon payment, a copy of James Gilbert’s classic, The World’s Worst Aircraft beside the yoke.
