Marjorie van Vliet (Zeuch) (192315 June 1990) was a teacher from

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, the third largest city in the state with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, southwest of Boston, Massachu ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, who, aged 55, learned to fly and decided to undertake projects to promote

world peace World peace, or peace on Earth, is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Planet Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would ...

and related causes through her flying.

Touring for peace

After founding a "World Friendship Association" and flying some domestic flights to promote world peace and fight child abuse, van Vliet looked for further flying-related challenges. As a more ambitious goal, she decided to fly across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

to promote world peace, possibly continuing on around the world and returning via the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

. The Cold War, however, was still ongoing and despite many efforts over several years to promote her idea, obtaining permission from the Soviet Union proved insurmountable.

Planning the Grand Tour of the "Lower 48"

The idea was to criss-cross the

continental United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

(the "Lower 48") in a single two-week period, landing at each

state capital Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital cities. National capitals *List of national capitals * List of national capitals by latitude *List of national capitals by population * List of national capitals by area * List of capital c ...

to promote her association's messages. A retired

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

, Frank E. Martineau, promoted this campaign and accompanied van Vliet. Martineau was an experienced pilot who had flown bombing missions during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and later flew for the U.S. Air Force Reserves. Now aged 69, he had logged 5,400 hours flying time with instrument flying experience. According to periodic newsletters her association published at the time, van Vliet, then 67 years old, believed his experience would significantly enhance her safety during the arduous and ambitious two-week flight.

Accident

Ultimately, after successfully landing in 47 states, the journey ended in tragedy just one mile short of the penultimate stop. On the morning of June 15, 1990, while executing an

instrument approach In aviation, an instrument approach or instrument approach procedure (IAP) is a series of predetermined maneuvers for the orderly transfer of an aircraft operating under instrument flight rules from the beginning of the initial approach to a landi ...

Yeager Airport West Virginia International Yeager Airport is a public airport east of downtown Charleston, in unincorporated Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. It is owned by the Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority. The airport hosts ...

, the single-engine

Mooney Mooney is a family name, which is probably predominantly derived from the Irish Ó Maonaigh, pronounced Om-weeneey. It can also be spelled Moony, Moonie, Mainey, Mauney, Meaney and Meeney depending on the dialectic pronunciation that was angli ...

M-20E that van Vliet and Martineau were flying from Columbus, Ohio to Charleston, West Virginia crashed into wooded terrain in light rain, turbulence and fog. Both perished in the crash. According to the National Transportation Safety Board report issued in 1992, the probable cause of the crash was:

Postscript

As another irony, the Soviet Union, by now undergoing perestroika, had finally approved van Vliet's request for the World Peace tour flight over their territory (with Martineau as copilot), just prior to the Grand Tour flight. In 1991, van Vliet was honored by being inducted posthumously into the International Forest of Friendship in

Atchison, Kansas Atchison is a city and county seat of Atchison County, Kansas, United States, along the Missouri River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 10,885. The city is named in honor of US Senator David Rice Atchison from Missouri ...

References

''Charleston Daily Mail''
* * * "Rally lifts teacher's hopes for her solo flight for peace", Adelle M. Banks, Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer. ''Providence Journal''. Providence, R.I.: November 18, 1987. pg. C-11 * "Touring Warwick pilot dies in crash", Staff and wire reports. ''Providence Journal''. Providence, R.I.: Jun 16, 1990. pg. A-03 * "Plane crash dead were experienced pilots", ''Charleston Gazette'', June 16, 1990 {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Vliet, Marjorie 1923 births 1990 deaths American aviators Aviators from Rhode Island Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Accidental deaths in West Virginia People from Warwick, Rhode Island American women aviators 20th-century American women