Their political views and high-profile activism – including the famous Montreal “bed-in” in which they expounded on world peace while wearing pyjamas – caused deep suspicion in the Nixon administration.The surveillance only really ended in 1976 after Lennon won his battle with the Immigration and Naturalisation Service for the right to remain in the US. For months the agency had been fretting that the singer-turned-activist was preparing to disrupt the Republican National Convention in Miami. Then somebody said it: Lennon was far too stoned to be a real threat. The moment when the FBI concluded that pot had got the better of the late rock star is recorded in one of a myriad of files on deceased celebrities released by the US government this week under freedom of information statutes.

The same collection of papers reveals how far the agency went to spy on other celebrities, ranging from Marilyn Monroe – supposedly a Communist – to Liberace, who apparently had a gambling problem.There has never been any secret about the preoccupation of the US government with Lennon after his arrival in America from Britain with his second wife, Yoko Ono, in 1971. On board, the passengers cheered and hugged the pilot.According to a transcript of the cockpit conversation, Mr Burke remained so cool he was actually more concerned about the media mob that would await him on landing than he was about making a fatal mistake.

It was apparently with much relief that the FBI had a sudden revelation about the former Beatle John Lennon, back in 1972. “Do we have someone here who is media savvy?” he asked the control tower at one point “I want to keep the media wolves off my back I’ve got nothing to say to them.”. The television, which had become a major distraction, was turned off. Finally, the cabin crew ordered everyone to adopt the brace position they had practised for an hour.The pilot touched down with the back wheels only, and kept the nose in the air until the last possible moment. The distressed wheel skidded, burnt off rubber and finally created a modest streak of flames.When the plane came to a final halt, the fire had gone out, and the wheel was no more than six inches off the centre line of the runway – a perfect landing. Even coming in to land with no wheels at all was a survivable scenario, various pilots later opined.But all eyes were rivetted on Flight 292 as pilot Scott Burke made his approach. The passengers were ordered to the back of the plane, for weight distribution reasons but also to maximise their safety.

The longest runway at the largest airport in the area, Los Angeles International, was all ready to go with fire and rescue crews.The news shows didn’t want to say so, because it might detract from the drama, but landing a plane with a twisted nose wheel is a relatively straightforward emergency procedure all pilots are trained to handle. It was so odd.”"It’s 10 miles out over the 710 freeway,” various television anchors announced shortly after 6pm local time, much as they might a minor traffic disturbance. Some 517 prisoners at the parish facilities are still listed as missing, and law enforcement authorities have no idea if they escaped or simply perished.”It was complete chaos,” a veteran prison guard concurred. Of the people housed in Templeman III he commented: “Ain’t no tellin’ what happened to those people.”.