2 Helicopter Crashes Rewrote History

John Heinz had the makings of a President. Two helicopter crashes — 18 months and 66 miles apart — altered national politics for decades

Washington’s version of “It’s a Wonderful Life,’’ where we see how one man’s life changes the lives of countless others? How two helicopter crashes 18 months and 66 miles apart changed presidential politics for 30 years, including the lives of the last five presidents and at least five more senators (four of the five ran for president). Above from left to right and top to bottom: Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. Bottom row: Senators Joe Biden, Harris Wofford, Rick Santorum, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. Photo collage by Joseph Serwach with images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The warning panel said something was wrong with the plane’s landing gear, so a helicopter volunteered to fly up close to check.

The plane, carrying U.S. Sen. John Heinz, R-Pa., and the copter trying to help, crashed. Both slammed into a suburban Philadelphia schoolyard below. Seven people, including the crews, school children below, and Heinz, died instantly. He was just 52.

Some of the initial Philadelphia Inquirer coverage of the death of John Heinz.

That single, shocking April 4, 1991 event would change history, careers (mine included), and Presidential politics for literally decades to come.

In “It’s a Wonderful Life,’’ we see how a single man’s life changes a whole town.

In the story of the two copter crashes, we see how one man is lost and another being spared changed America. Every action created a ripple effect.

The Republican JFK