Programs: AA EXP-1.6MM, Hilton Diamond, ManU & Chicago Bears #1 Fan
Posts: 9,797
I believe this was the DC-10 at ORD. Just minutes after take-off it came straight down. No survivors. According to some stories, the pilots were heroes as the plane was heading straight for the gasoline storage tanks and somehow they directed the plane to an open field. It could have been a lot worst.
I drove by next day, and it was a disaster area, but I can't imagine what the area would look like if the plane did hit the storage tanks.
It was a sad day, and I still think about what i saw the following day.
do airlines retire a flight number when that flight has crashed?
Strange thing about this flight number. AA191 isn't the only major crash of a flight 191. Delta 191 was the L1011 that crashed due to windshear while trying to land at DFW in August 1985.
There was also a fatal crash of Prinair Flight 191 as well as the fatal X15 Flight 191 on November 15, 1967.
But I remember it well... I was leaving on vacation on AA the next morning, and the front page of the morning paper was covered with pics, stories, etc. Not a great way to be greeted at the airport.
Re the second question, yes, airlines traditionally retire flight numbers after a fatal. I think some airlines re-use the numbers after a while. Sounds like AA takes a longer view.
BTW, IIRC, AA at the time showed live pics of the takeoff from a camera on the front carriage on the IFE screens, and the attorneys handling the inevitable suits demanded extra damages from AA for the cruelty the pax suffered from seeing the ground rush up at them on the screens. I don't know whether it worked or not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanook
I don't remember this one...where did it occur?
Just wondering...do airlines retire a flight number when that flight has crashed? There doesn't seem to be an AA191 any longer.
This was during the time AA had live video feeds from inside the cockpit (remeber those day's?)---I am sure the crash was one of the major reasons they discontinued these feeds.
My parents lived in Elk Grove at the time a few miles away... I still had 3 months till I was born, but still hear about it today, and the huge plooms of smoke you could see from our house, and how the roads were all shut down.
According to some stories, the pilots were heroes as the plane was heading straight for the gasoline storage tanks and somehow they directed the plane to an open field.
Romantic story... but it's probably just that.
The plane came down on top of a trailer park
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Programs: AA EXP-1.6MM, Hilton Diamond, ManU & Chicago Bears #1 Fan
Posts: 9,797
Quote:
Originally Posted by ConcordeBoy
Romantic story... but it's probably just that.
The plane came down on top of a trailer park
As I said, I drove by next morning, and the storage tanks were right next to the crash site. The plane did not come down on top of a trailer park. It crashed into an empty field next to a trailer park.
R.I.P. AA191, a quarter century later
