305 (Anecdotes)
Anecdotal Stories
GOING UNDERCOVER...TO SAVE A JET
In 1976, I took a job as an officer trainee and loan collector at a $40 million bank, Hamilton Bank and
Trust in Atlanta. The bank turned out to be in serious financial trouble and two weeks after I started
working there, the bank failed. The FDIC asked me to stay because loan collectors were needed.
One of the loans I began reviewing was to a company based at Charlie Brown Airport, west of Atlanta, that
operated two charter Lear jets. We had a lien on one of the jets and wanted to repossess it. But there was
a big problem—we didn’t know which jet was ours. We also knew that the debtors had threatened to fly
the jet out of the country if we tried to take it. Our jet had a mobile phone system (rare in 1976); the other
jet did not. So the only way to confirm which jet was ours was to get inside and find the mobile phone. We
determined that we could get a Writ of Possession from the local court, using the FAA number painted on
the jet. But first, we needed the right FAA number.
So, one morning I drove out to Charlie Brown Airport and called on our debtor. Resorting to a mixture of
subterfuge and false bravado, I introduced myself as the road manager of the singing group The Kingston
Trio. I said the group was now based in Atlanta and was planning a brief fall tour. I added that the group
was interested in chartering a jet so it could return home each night. The man I spoke with willingly took the
bait and was soon giving me a tour of each jet. The second jet had a mobile telephone. I told him that was
fantastic because the guys could call home every night and tell their families they were on their way. I left,
telling him we were very interested and that I would contact him shortly.
I gave our attorney the jet’s FAA number so he could begin preparing the Writ of Possession to take to the
judge. He asked me to monitor the hangar to see if they rolled out the jet. We were in a race against time
to get the writ before they took off with the plane. All afternoon I sat in a Wendys parking lot across from
the airfield where I had a good view of the hangar. Nothing happened. I went home about 8 p.m. and
returned the next morning about 7 a.m. Two hours later, they opened the hangar door and rolled out a jet.
I checked the FAA number—it was ours. I called our attorney from a pay phone. He said the judge was
about to sign the writ, and asked me to stop them from leaving with the jet until he got there. “I’ll give it a
try,” I said.
During the process of gathering information for the historical project, Managing the Crisis: The
FDIC and RTC Experience , several anecdotal stories came to light that are too good not to
share. Enjoy!!
Anecdotal Stories
GOING UNDERCOVER...TO SAVE A JET
In 1976, I took a job as an officer trainee and loan collector at a $40 million bank, Hamilton Bank and
Trust in Atlanta. The bank turned out to be in serious financial trouble and two weeks after I started
working there, the bank failed. The FDIC asked me to stay because loan collectors were needed.
One of the loans I began reviewing was to a company based at Charlie Brown Airport, west of Atlanta, that
operated two charter Lear jets. We had a lien on one of the jets and wanted to repossess it. But there was
a big problem—we didn’t know which jet was ours. We also knew that the debtors had threatened to fly
the jet out of the country if we tried to take it. Our jet had a mobile phone system (rare in 1976); the other
jet did not. So the only way to confirm which jet was ours was to get inside and find the mobile phone. We
determined that we could get a Writ of Possession from the local court, using the FAA number painted on
the jet. But first, we needed the right FAA number.
So, one morning I drove out to Charlie Brown Airport and called on our debtor. Resorting to a mixture of
subterfuge and false bravado, I introduced myself as the road manager of the singing group The Kingston
Trio. I said the group was now based in Atlanta and was planning a brief fall tour. I added that the group
was interested in chartering a jet so it could return home each night. The man I spoke with willingly took the
bait and was soon giving me a tour of each jet. The second jet had a mobile telephone. I told him that was
fantastic because the guys could call home every night and tell their families they were on their way. I left,
telling him we were very interested and that I would contact him shortly.
I gave our attorney the jet’s FAA number so he could begin preparing the Writ of Possession to take to the
judge. He asked me to monitor the hangar to see if they rolled out the jet. We were in a race against time
to get the writ before they took off with the plane. All afternoon I sat in a Wendys parking lot across from
the airfield where I had a good view of the hangar. Nothing happened. I went home about 8 p.m. and
returned the next morning about 7 a.m. Two hours later, they opened the hangar door and rolled out a jet.
I checked the FAA number—it was ours. I called our attorney from a pay phone. He said the judge was
about to sign the writ, and asked me to stop them from leaving with the jet until he got there. “I’ll give it a
try,” I said.
During the process of gathering information for the historical project, Managing the Crisis: The
FDIC and RTC Experience , several anecdotal stories came to light that are too good not to
share. Enjoy!!
306 (Anecdotes)
I drove to the airport and on to the flight line, blocking the jet. Then I got out of my car and stood by it.
The man I spoke with the day before was in the jet’s cockpit. He climbed out, leaving the engines running.
“What’s going on?” he shouted over the roar of the jet. “Didn’t I talk to you yesterday?” “Yes. I’m not
really with The Kingston Trio. I’m with the FDIC, which just took over Hamilton Bank,” I said. “We’re
repossessing this jet. Our attorney is on his way over here now with a court order. I’m sorry, I can’t let
you take off.”
He called me a name, go t back in the jet, and turned off the engines. Then he walked over to the hangar
and stood in the doorway with some other men. I could not hear what they were saying, but they kept
pointing at the jet—and to me. Our attorney soon arrived and we taped the writ to the jet’s window. I
walked over to another hangar and hired an aircraft maintenance company on the spot to park the jet in its
hangar. All the while, the men stood there and watched.
We ended up selling the jet for about $450,000.
--William C. Thomas
A LIFE SAVINGS NEARLY LOST
Twelve days after a bank closing in Hennessay, OK, in late 1985, only four FDIC employees remained at
the bank to complete a payoff. By then, there were no more than a dozen uninsured depositors with whom
we had not met.
At noon, an elderly woman walked into the lobby and was shown to my office. We got right to business,
and she explained that her husband had just retired after 40 years with a local farmers’ co-op. The couple
had four accounts with the bank —a checking account with a few thousand dollars, a savings account with
about $10,000, and two Certificates of Deposit, each for $100,000. One CD was in her name, payable
upon death to her husband. The other was in her husband’s name, payable upon death to he r. The bank
had set up these two CD accounts so both would be protected with FDIC insurance. I told the woman that
the CDs would be covered with FDIC insurance, but the other two accounts would not because they were
set up jointly with her husband. She and her husband were each entitled to $100,000 of protection for the
CDs, but they would lose the roughly $12,000 in smaller accounts.
The woman sighed at losing $12,000, then told me that her husband had passed away on the same day the
bank failed and she could not cope with any more bad news. I was shocked at this revelation because I
realized that when her husband died, the CD in his name became her property. So, she was probably going
to lose the other $100,000, which only seconds before I had told h er was covered by FDIC insurance. I
had no choice but to give her the bad news. She became extremely distraught at the thought of losing more
than half of her and her late husband’s life savings.
I drove to the airport and on to the flight line, blocking the jet. Then I got out of my car and stood by it.
The man I spoke with the day before was in the jet’s cockpit. He climbed out, leaving the engines running.
“What’s going on?” he shouted over the roar of the jet. “Didn’t I talk to you yesterday?” “Yes. I’m not
really with The Kingston Trio. I’m with the FDIC, which just took over Hamilton Bank,” I said. “We’re
repossessing this jet. Our attorney is on his way over here now with a court order. I’m sorry, I can’t let
you take off.”
He called me a name, go t back in the jet, and turned off the engines. Then he walked over to the hangar
and stood in the doorway with some other men. I could not hear what they were saying, but they kept
pointing at the jet—and to me. Our attorney soon arrived and we taped the writ to the jet’s window. I
walked over to another hangar and hired an aircraft maintenance company on the spot to park the jet in its
hangar. All the while, the men stood there and watched.
We ended up selling the jet for about $450,000.
--William C. Thomas
A LIFE SAVINGS NEARLY LOST
Twelve days after a bank closing in Hennessay, OK, in late 1985, only four FDIC employees remained at
the bank to complete a payoff. By then, there were no more than a dozen uninsured depositors with whom
we had not met.
At noon, an elderly woman walked into the lobby and was shown to my office. We got right to business,
and she explained that her husband had just retired after 40 years with a local farmers’ co-op. The couple
had four accounts with the bank —a checking account with a few thousand dollars, a savings account with
about $10,000, and two Certificates of Deposit, each for $100,000. One CD was in her name, payable
upon death to her husband. The other was in her husband’s name, payable upon death to he r. The bank
had set up these two CD accounts so both would be protected with FDIC insurance. I told the woman that
the CDs would be covered with FDIC insurance, but the other two accounts would not because they were
set up jointly with her husband. She and her husband were each entitled to $100,000 of protection for the
CDs, but they would lose the roughly $12,000 in smaller accounts.
The woman sighed at losing $12,000, then told me that her husband had passed away on the same day the
bank failed and she could not cope with any more bad news. I was shocked at this revelation because I
realized that when her husband died, the CD in his name became her property. So, she was probably going
to lose the other $100,000, which only seconds before I had told h er was covered by FDIC insurance. I
had no choice but to give her the bad news. She became extremely distraught at the thought of losing more
than half of her and her late husband’s life savings.