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American 191. A DC-10-10 on May 25, 1979, crashed moments after takeoff from Chicago O'Hare's Airport. All 258 passengers and 13 crew on board were killed, along with two people on the ground. It is the deadliest aviation accident to have occurred in the United States. It came down close to United Airlines Executive Offices.
I say this as I had flown on that flight several times and I was at O'Hare checking in for a AA Flight to NYC when it happened. The counter people started whispering and gasping. When asked what happened a counter person said there has been a crash of one of our planes.
The morbid joke was American 191, non-stop from O'Hare to Elk Grove Village.
American 191. A DC-10-10 on May 25, 1979, crashed moments after takeoff from Chicago O'Hare's Airport. All 258 passengers and 13 crew on board were killed, along with two people on the ground. It is the deadliest aviation accident to have occurred in the United States. It came down close to United Airlines Executive Offices.
I say this as I had flown on that flight several times and I was at O'Hare checking in for a AA Flight to NYC when it happened. The counter people started whispering and gasping. When asked what happened a counter person said there has been a crash of one of our planes.
The morbid joke was American 191, non-stop from O'Hare to Elk Grove Village.
That's the one I thought about first, as well as Tenerife. The still image of a DC-10 on its side with the left engine visibly missing is haunting.
The delta heavy crash due to wind shear as they came in to land in unstable summer stormy weather. I believe this was one of the first flights where wind shear was determined to be the likely cause. Can't recall plane but think it night have been a large non Boeing plane. I believe it was partially videoed as it crashed near a major freeway.
L-1011. Yes, that was haunting (at least to read about). NTSB report is very interesting; during the first touchdown (when the plane did a quick bounce, before the actual crash), I believe the aircraft had almost arrested its descent; a few extra feet of altitude might have made all the difference...
American 191. A DC-10-10 on May 25, 1979, crashed moments after takeoff from Chicago O'Hare's Airport. All 258 passengers and 13 crew on board were killed, along with two people on the ground. It is the deadliest aviation accident to have occurred in the United States. It came down close to United Airlines Executive Offices.
I say this as I had flown on that flight several times and I was at O'Hare checking in for a AA Flight to NYC when it happened. The counter people started whispering and gasping. When asked what happened a counter person said there has been a crash of one of our planes.
The morbid joke was American 191, non-stop from O'Hare to Elk Grove Village.
One of the things that fascinates me about disasters is how there are usually people who "should" have been involved, but just barely missed it due to taking actions that at the time seemed perfectly innocuous. I remember reading about two people trying to buy tickets for American 191. A man was in line first, but when the agent said there was only one seat left, the lady behind him said that she needed to get to Los Angeles right away. The man wasn't in a hurry, so he chivalrously yielded the seat to the lady and was booked on a later flight. A few minutes later, of course, that woman was dead.
One of the things that fascinates me about disasters is how there are usually people who "should" have been involved, but just barely missed it due to taking actions that at the time seemed perfectly innocuous. I remember reading about two people trying to buy tickets for American 191. A man was in line first, but when the agent said there was only one seat left, the lady behind him said that she needed to get to Los Angeles right away. The man wasn't in a hurry, so he chivalrously yielded the seat to the lady and was booked on a later flight. A few minutes later, of course, that woman was dead.
I completely understand. The only way to be safe is to......not fly. I tell it in real life and people laugh at me. I do not want to die in a plane crash. It is terrifying.
To me the most traumatic airline crash happened in the 1950's in Colorado. Somebody put a bomb on an airliner and it exploded over Colorado killing all on board. IIRC the bomber (Graham?) was caught and executed. I can't remember all the details but I believe he did it to collect insurance on a relative. I was in elementary school at the time and all of my classmates and I were very shook up about it.
American 191. A DC-10-10 on May 25, 1979, crashed moments after takeoff from Chicago O'Hare's Airport. All 258 passengers and 13 crew on board were killed, along with two people on the ground.
Gets my vote as well. I think perhaps due to the fact that the aircraft so demonstrably just broke. Once airborne, there was no error of judgment to cause the crash, nor anything in the way of experience or expertise that the pilots could have done. It's hard to deal with. (In mountaineering, we call it "objective danger" - the risk that remains when all that skill and preparation can do has been done. People have quit climbing mountains from one day to the other after a brush with it.)
Killed off an otherwise good airplane, too - tickets on DC-10s couldn't be given away.
It was something preventable and illustrates how one puts their lives in the hands on the two people up front. I recently rode in the cockpit jumpseat and observed, and the competency level is amazing among crew members. However, if you cannot communicate an issue, then no one will know there is one.
That's a tough one. Hmmm. Well, of the disasters on your short list I'd have to go with Tenerife. That was horrible.
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