Word: atwoods
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...blind spot," confessed a top National Aeronautics and Space Administration engineer. North American Aviation's highest officials shared the blind spot. Said President J. Leland Atwood: "The pad testing seemed to be almost mundane and routine. If I thought of the pad testing, without any fuel aboard and without preparing to launch, as anything potentially dangerous, it would have been a little bit beyond my comprehension." Said Astronaut Frank Borman, a member of the review board who might fly an Apollo himself some day: "We overlooked the possibility of a spacecraft fire...
...candor of the report surprised officials of both NASA and North American. Testifying before Texas Democrat Olin Teague's House Subcommittee on NASA Over sight, North American's top brass seemed defensive and often vague. "In spite of my feeling of deep responsibility for our organization," said Atwood, "I do feel that the responsibility must be widely shared." At one point, North American Vice President John McCarthy quarreled with the board's conclusion that faulty wiring probably caused the fire. Pressed for alternatives, he blurted: "It has been theorized that Grissom could have kicked the wire that...
...sales, though Founder and Chairman Willard Sr., 79, got a diversification drive off the ground in 1958, when he bought what is now the company's plane-making Aero Commander division. When Willard Jr. read of North American's plans in the press last September, he invited Atwood to Pittsburgh for talks, met him again a few weeks later on a TIME-sponsored tour through Eastern Europe with other businessmen. Many of the merger details were worked out during a limousine ride through Rumania...
...Years. Atwood was moving ahead with the Rockwell-Standard deal as his bid for Douglas was pre-empted by McDonnell (see cover story). But if Rockwell was second choice, it is hardly second best. While its sales, which have nearly doubled since 1963, are less than a third the size of North American's, last year Rockwell earned almost as much ($41.5 million) as its new partner ($48.6 million). Rockwell Jr. is delighted to have North American's electronics and space savvy. "You could acquire companies for 20 years," he says, "without approaching this combination...
...management goes, the combination will involve no noticeable changes. Atwood will remain at his El Segundo, Calif., headquarters as president and chief executive officer of North American Rockwell. The Rockwells, Sr. and Jr., will be based in Pittsburgh as chairman and vice chairman. And, what with North American's $1.2 million Sabreliners and Rockwell's $575,000 Jet Commanders, distance should be no problem...