Chicago Author Bryan Alaspa Tells the Story of the Chesterton, Indiana, Plane Crash in New Book

Online, June 11, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Author Bryan W. Alaspa has published a new true crime and history book that tells the story of a shocking crime that took place near Chicago, but is not well known. In 1933 a passenger plane run by United Airlines exploded over the town of Chesterton, Indiana, killing all on board. For the author, who has published nearly 20 works, the fact that the story is not well known is a shame since he feels it deserves its place in history as the first act of terrorism against a commercial airliner. The book is available as an ebook as of June 12, 2012.

"The plane blew up over the small town of Chesterton while on its way to Chicago," said the author from his Chicago offices. "Investigators soon found out that it was a bomb that blew the tail off of the plane. Seven people died and no one was ever caught or prosecuted."

Mr. Alaspa was given unprecedented access to the FBI files regarding the investigation. He filed a Freedom of Information Act request and that got him 300 pages, the entire FBI file, into the investigations. It gave him clues to suspects and how the investigation went, something that has not been present before in any other telling of the story.

"At the time, the newspapers seemed to want to tell the tale of the crash, but there were bigger things going on in the world that took precedence," said Mr. Alaspa. "Remember the Depression was going on, Hitler was making a name for himself across Europe and the United States was fascinated in tales of bank robbers and gangsters. The story vanished and details about suspects and people who were questioned by the FBI are just not found in the newspaper archives, but they were in the reports."

Mr. Alaspa goes into detail about the history of aviation and the airlines. Plus, he uses resources to look into the lives of Melvin Purvis, head of the FBI Chicago office, J. Edgar Hoover and the rest of the agents involved in the investigation. The author feels that he has some conclusions and possibilities about who might have been responsible for the crime, and some explanation for why no one was ever arrested.

"The crime over the skies in Chesterton deserves to be known and deserves its place history," concludes the author. "I hope that this book takes the step, gets people curious and others asking questions. It's possible that the crime might even get solved."

The book is available as an eBook for the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Kobo ereader and for PC, smartphone, tablets and all other ereaders at Smashwords.com. The book will be released in a print form later this summer.