American Airlines FLIGHT 191 Memorial
- Target: O'Hare International Airport
- Sponsored by: Decatur Classical School
May 25, 1979 remains the darkest day in American aviation. On that Friday before the Memorial Day Weekend, 270 passengers and crew aboard American Airlines Flight 191 lost their lives when their airplane literally fell out of the sky. To this day, the accident is the most deadly commercial airline crash in United States history. Here is the story of what happened on that blusterry Spring day in 1979.
In command of flight 191 was Capt. Walter Lux, a 22,000 hour pilot who had flown the DC-10 nearly since its introduction eight years earlier. Assisting him on the flight deck were First Officer James Dillard and Flight Engineer Alfred Udovich, who had 25,000 flying hours between them. At 2:50 pm, N110AA was cleared to taxi to runway 32R at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, and at 3:02 pm the flight was cleared for takeoff. The wind was Northeast at 22 knots.
In the cockpit and cabin, the takeoff roll seemed totally normal. The view from the cockpit was even being broadcast on the airliner's closed circuit television system for the passengers' enjoyment. But six thousand feet into the takeoff roll, air traffic controllers in O'Hare's control tower saw small parts of the aircraft's no.1 engine pylon fall away, and as the aircraft started its rotation, the entire number one engine separated from the wing.
Behaving exactly as it was designed to, the severed engine flew up and over the left wing, falling to the runway below. Unfortunately, in the process, it ripped out all of the hydraulic lines to the leading edge slats. As a result, pressure slowly started to leak out and the leading edge slats slowly started to retract. The plane continued to climb normally, however.
The tower controller called "American 191 heavy, you wanna come back and to what runway?" There was no response... the crew was too concerned with keeping their wounded beast flying. The Captain, following American's engine-out procedures to the nth degree, pitched the nose up and slowed the aircraft down to V2 6, or 159 knots. Decelerating through 165 knots, something odd began to happen.
The Captain was putting in full right rudder and aileron, yet the aircraft was still rolling left. At an altitude of 400 feet and with an airspeed of 155 knots, the airplane rolled past wings vertical and fell to earth with a bank of and a nose down attitude of .
The accident investigation revealed that, when the engine separated, it disabled the Captain's control panel, which contained both of the slat disagreement systems. The severed hydraulic lines allowed the slats on the left wing to gradually retract, and the stall speed on the left wing rose considerably. When the aircraft slowed through 164 knots, the left wing aerodynamically stalled because of its clean configuration, while the right wing continued to produce lift with its slats still in takeoff position. With one wing stalling and one wing producing full lift, the airplane eventually rolled past a 90%uFFFD bank, and fell to the ground. The crash killed two people on the ground when it hit a field directly adjacent to a trailer park. All 270 passengers and crew aboard were also fatally injured. Visit our site http://projectflight191.webs.com/
On May 25, 1979, O'Hare International's Flight 191 crashed. BOOM! How would you feel if your family member died in this crash? Wouldn't you be sad and wanting a memorial? Ironically, the plane crashed on Memorial Day Weekend.
%u201C%u201CIt was the worst air disaster, but at the time this flight took place, airlines offered no support groups,%u201D said Melody Smith of Arlington Heights, whose parents, Bill and Corinne Borchers of Chicago, died in the crash. The airlines did not want to get involved.
The reason why I think there should be a memorial is because 273 people got killed by that plane crash. That's a lot of friends and family members crying because of this. They would all be grateful if we put a memorial for them. This will be a nice thing to do. Flight 191 should get a memorial because it is considered the worst non-terrorist attack air tragedy on U.S. soil. The problem is, for the airport to put in a memorial to a plane that crashed, it's not something they really want to have recognized, Melody Smith said. This was a bad flight to the point they had to identify people by dental and jewelry. Isn't that sad enough?
I think it's just starting to happen,%u201D Joy Holmes said. I know there are many people here in Los Angeles, and I don't know why I haven't connected with them. It's like I want to connect with them, and at the same time it's difficult, and it takes a lot of energy. When you lose a loved one, you just don't forget about it. It stays with you forever. A gathering in the O'Hare chapel just isn't enough, the families who were affected by this need a memorial. For me nothing gets better, nothing gets worse%u201D said Michael Lux in pain. His father's birthday was the day before the crash. Flight 191 is a very sad memory.
So in conclusion, please add a memorial for these sad, sorrowful friends and families. Their gratefulness will exceed the limit. This is because they have been trying for 31 years.
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