TX TX - Milton Sims, 26, Pilot Missing After Hijacking, Houston/Huntsville/Texas City, 16 Dec 1978

[Deleted member 199554]

NamUs #MP4992
Milton Wayne Sims

Missing Age: 26 years
Sex: Male
Height: 5'8"-5'9"
Weight: 140-145 lbs.
Race/Ethnicity: White/Caucasian
Hair Color: Brown; Receding Hairline
Eye Color: Blue

Date of Last Contact: December 16, 1978
Location: Houston/Huntsville/Texas City, Texas
County: Harris

Circumstances of Disappearance
Milton was a charter pilot for Seaback Aviation located at Hooks Airport in Spring, TX when the plane he was flying was skyjacked after picking up a customer in Huntsville, TX for a flight to Houston Intercontinental. (He had flown the same customer to Huntsville from IAH the previous day.) The plane was spotted making touch & go landings in Teague and Rockport, and was located two days later at an abandoned airport hanger in Texas City. Milton was never seen or heard from again. A bullet slug was found in the cabin and blood was in one of the passenger seats. The carpeting and several of the other seats had been removed and the plane's serial numbers had been partially covered with spray paint.

Clothing and Accessories
White shirt with light blue stropes, tie, slacks
Eyewear: Aviator style glasses

Transportation
Plane Milton was flying was a Beechcraft Baron, twin engine, white with blue stripe #N444CH

Investigating Agencies
FBI - Houston Field Office
(713) 693-5000

Agency Case Number
H0-164-288

Newspaper PDF clippings in NamUs:
Pilot, plane missing: Law enforcement officers puzzled by disappearance
Bay Citians Watch And Wait For Missing Pilot
Plane hijacking: Thieves could have been hiding in airport hangar, police say
Blood-soaked plane searched: Officials seek clues to pilot's disappearance

 

[DD Byrd]

Sounds like he was killed in flight. The killer (passenger) then practiced touchdowns, and finally did on an unmonitored strip (planned). Unless Sims was thrown from the plane by another indvidial, I don't think his body would be far from Texas City.

Being 1978, esp on a Baron, there are probably no records on passenger info. It's not specified if the flight was only Sims and passenger, but they (and several others) would've passed the weight requirement. For the plane to be found in an abandoned hangar, and no mention of investigation of Sims' aquaintances, this sounds terribly like a wrong place/ wrong time.