RIP, Sir.

https://siouxcityjournal.com/n...d2-6f9d9fe9176e.html

Al Haynes, who piloted crash-landed Flight 232 in Sioux City in 1989, dies at 87


SIOUX CITY -- Al Haynes, who piloted a crippled jumbo jet to a crash landing at Sioux Gateway Airport on July 19, 1989, helping save the lives of 184 passengers and crew, died Sunday.

Haynes, who passed away in a hospital in his hometown of Seattle following a brief illness, was one week shy of his 88th birthday.

At age 57, Haynes was captain of United Airlines Flight 232, which was bound from Denver to Chicago. After the DC-10 jet suffered a catastrophic failure of its tail-mounted engine, which resulted in the loss of many flight controls, Haynes and his crew were forced to make an emergency landing at the Sioux City airport. The jet stayed afloat while the pilots made a series of 360-degree turns to the right as it approached the airport.

On the final impact, the aircraft's right wing broke off, causing the fuselage to skid sideways and tumble, before sliding to a stop upside down in a corn field at the end of a secondary runway.

Miraculously, 184 of the 296 people aboard survived, many due to the heroic actions of the crew, local emergency responders and medical staff.

But Haynes never considered himself a hero, choosing instead to give credit to his crew, said Woodbury County emergency management director Gary Brown, who served in that capacity at the time of the crash and grew to consider Haynes a "great friend."

"He was the most humble man I've ever met in my life," Brown said late Sunday night.

Brown said Haynes never forgot the 112 passengers who died in the crash. To honor their memory, he worked tirelessly over the next three decades to help prevent future air disasters. He traveled the world, speaking at various conferences that focused on lessons learned from Flight 232 and making corresponding changes in the industry.

"He wanted something good to come out of such a horrible tragedy," Brown said.

During his travels, Haynes became Sioux City's "great ambassador," Brown said. The pilot made several visits back to Sioux City. One of the most recent was for a ceremony in 2014 marking the 25th anniversary of the crash.

Saw that earlier when I first got up this morning. Absolutely RIP, Captain. It's a sad loss for his extended United family as well. I know the loss of life in his crash weighed heavily on his heart until his last day. I regret I was never able to meet CA Haynes. Go west, sir...

... and, Godspeed.

RIP, Capt.

My wife's neighbor growing up, her husband and child were three of the fatalities on that flight.

Tailwinds and blue sky’s on your trip west Captain.

He was a very humble man. He is an aviation legend and will be missed.

No disrespect to Captain Sullebburger... but miraculous is the adjective they should’ve used for the landing the crew made in that DC-10. The aircraft was (almost) un-flyable. The crew were test pilots, in every sense of the term.

I was thinking of this incident earlier today as a result of my “spare pilot” thread. As I recall, there was a training pilot on board that advised and assisted the two crew pilots.

This is also a good watch:

CBS Evening News, July 25th, 1989

I had no idea back then Dan Rather was the epic douche that he is.

RIP Captain. Godspeed to you.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
I was thinking of this incident earlier today as a result of my “spare pilot” thread. As I recall, there was a training pilot on board that advised and assisted the two crew pilots.

Yep, Denny Fitch was a training captain that happened to be onboard. As luck would have it, he became interested in thrust-steering an airliner after researching the disastrous JAL 123 flight, in which a blown-out rear bulkhead took out most of the tail and all of the hydraulics. He had even practiced techniques in a simulator. He was the one who worked the throttles on the UAL flight after they became the only flight control still functional. He died in 2012.

RIP Captain! Fascinating story to read!

Simply incredible

It was part miracle, part excellent flying. The whole crew deserved some formal recognition.

Gear up, climbing to Angels and more Angels, Captain.

My friend who I was best man for at his wedding son died in that crash............

A true hero. RIP sir.

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
I was thinking of this incident earlier today as a result of my “spare pilot” thread. As I recall, there was a training pilot on board that advised and assisted the two crew pilots.

Yep, Denny Fitch was a training captain that happened to be onboard. As luck would have it, he became interested in thrust-steering an airliner after researching the disastrous JAL 123 flight, in which a blown-out rear bulkhead took out most of the tail and all of the hydraulics. He had even practiced techniques in a simulator. He was the one who worked the throttles on the UAL flight after they became the only flight control still functional. He died in 2012.

Amazing he survived the crash. Wasn't he kneeling between the two pilots working the throttles. I assume he wasn't belted in? Incredible.

quote:

Amazing he survived the crash. Wasn't he kneeling between the two pilots working the throttles. I assume he wasn't belted in? Incredible.

I'm not sure it would have made a difference in this case. The entire flight crew was knocked uncounscious at the fiery touchdown, and had to be freed from the wreckage by rescue crews.


Denny Fitch by kpkina, on Flickr

Interesting talk about the dynamics of what the crew did that helped the crew make the best of the situation.