The Airplane Crash on LBJ’s Ranch in February 1961: Still Another Piece of LBJ’s Legacy Missed by Robert Caro

This is how the accident was described by the local newspapers and in various accounts still accessible by internet, such as this one from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image:

On the evening of February 19, 1961, the Convair CV-240 often used by Vice President Johnson crashed in the hill country, seven miles from the LBJ Ranch. The plane was being shuttled from Austin to the ranch, but due to bad weather conditions could not land. The crew opted to return to Austin, but never arrived. This silent footage, filmed by Gordon Wilkison, camera man for KTBC and the Johnsons, documents the wreckage site and the vice president talking with reporters from the local press.

This description was what was immediately reported in the news, all based upon what Lyndon Johnson told those reporters. Which explains why it is filled with untrue statements (a.k.a. bald-faced lies). First, the…