America's Deadliest Air Disaster (American Airlines Flight 191) - DISASTER BREAKDOWN
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- Опубликовано: 2 апр 2021
- This video went out to my Patrons 48 hours On May 25th 1979, An American Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashed just outside of Chicago's O'Hare Airport. The resulting crash became the deadliest aviation disaster in American history. What caused this accident to happen? Why did American Airlines Flight 191 Crash?
Sources:
www.ntsb.gov/investigations/A...
web.archive.org/web/201106071...
www.chicagotribune.com/chi-11...
www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.av...
web.archive.org/web/200608132...
core.ac.uk/download/pdf/44040...
• Flight 191 crash, 40 y...
• Seconds From Disaster ...
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I’m enjoying your Douglas aircraft stories good job thanks
Have you done Alaska airlines flight 126? cause thats the only plane ik that crashed close to the town where I live
"America's deadliest air disaster?"
Um.... 9/11?
@@Deqster THAANNK YOUU I came to the comments specifically to see if I was the only who thought this.
How can you “enjoy” the video??? People DIED ffs. Be a bit more sensitive when you upload videos of people dying.
My grandma died in this crash when my mom was 4 years old. Her name was Paula Burns and she was a flight attendant. It feels so surreal to see this pop up in my recommended. That picture of the explosion actually brought tears to my eyes. My mom has gone through so much pain because of this crash and still gets very nervous and emotional when we take off on plane rides.
I'm so sorry to hear that. Horrible to think that she had to grow up without her mom and the crash being all over the news and so visible to this day. All the best for you, your mom and may your grandma rest in peace.
lol who cares
@@SillyZillian we do. If u don't, go comment somewhere else.
@@SillyZillian someone isn't getting enough attention at home. You ok bud?
I tired up reading this, mad respect ).:
My grandpa was at the scene the day it happened. He had just gotten off his flight home (I don’t know from where, and he passed away in 2015 so I’m unable to ask him now) and was in the parking garage when a large “boom” shook the ground, causing him to fall over. Upon exiting the airport in his car, he saw numerous fire trucks responding to the massive flames bellowing up from the crash site. Sometime after he returned home, he saw on the news that one of the victims in the crash was the person who sat next to him on his flight home. It was some guy in his 20s on a connecting flight. My grandpa reported that the man was excited to get to LA for a big work interview, and that it was eerie to see his face on a list of plane crash victims just hours later. It’s a small world out there, and even though it may feel like these disasters only happen to “other people”, there may come a day when you recognize the face of one of the victims. Cherish those around you, as you never know if it’ll be the last time you see them.
Great comment, thanks for sharing. Life is so fragile. We (including myself) forget that too easy.
I'm getting goosebumps just from reading this
That last part gave me chills ngl
(I wasnt in such a situation bc im only 14 lol)but a person in these situations often feels guilt,this ranging from slight to severe as one does feels as he couldve done something, when in actuallity one CAN'T.
Also another case like this(dead stanger only meet shortly before)
A passenger on a HST(Br Class 43)
from reading to London had seen a man pass trough his(in wich he seated)carriage and after the crash(ladbroke/paddington 1999) then trough the smoke being dead.
My family was flying in that day from CA for my grandparents' 50th anniversary. My brother and I noticed smoke on the ground as we were circling O'Hare, for what seemed like a really long time. It wasn't until we landed that we were told what had just happened. We passed the still smoking wreck as we drove out. That would have been our flight back one week later. When we did leave, on another AA DC-10, there were a lot of nervous passengers at take-off.
For everyone who keeps asking, in general aviation terminology an air disaster is an unintentional crash as "disaster" is most akin to "accident". Intentional crashes are specifically referred to as hijackings. 9/11 wasn't ranked as the deadliest *disaster* for this reason. Obviously a hijacking is still a disaster in general but they're hijackings first for the sake of being specific about what happened.
yeah- 9/11 wasnt an aviation disaster, it was terrorism using aircraft
Was wondering about this. Thank you!
your clarification doesn't seem relevant as first off some other highjacking incidents are covered in this channel and then downgrading 9/11 to just "highjacking" per some criteria and not labeling it as "disaster" does nothing but to downplay the scale of a human made catastrophy which led to the invasion of iraq and afganistan with millions of civilian causalities at the cost of 3 trillion USD just between 2004-2014 and multiple civil wars which followed it. and then again, what is the case of Malaysian Flight 370? how about the case of Iran Air Flight 655 which was a deliberate shoot down? Or South korean flight 007 which was again a deliberate shootdown? both of which are covered on this channel as disaster?
@@foxhoundmj2056 His clarification is relevant. First, this channel covers all types of incidents with planes. Second, fact that difference is made between disaster, accident and hijacking really does not downplay anyone's scale of catastrophy, as this classification of plane incidents is not done by scale, but by type of incident in the play.
@@foxhoundmj2056 go outside dude. Talk to another human being. You’re this mad about fucking airplane videos. I’d kill myself if that was me
That picture of the plane is one of the most unsettling and haunting pictures I've ever seen.
Yes it is .... There are actually more photos captured of this as it happened , they were taken by a passenger from another plane and published in the Chicago Tribune . I have found them , however they are not very clear due to photocopying . I wish someone could get them published from the original article .
Yes, this one and the pic of the 727 that just had a mid air collision with a light plane and crashed in a neighborhood.
What's even more disturbing is the radio communication between the plane and the tower.
The photos make things even worse to go through
You must be new to the internet if thats the mist unsettling thing
My grandfather died in this plane crash ( Kenneth Lamb) . Although i never got to meet him, my wife and I plan to visit the memorial that is set up outside of O'Hare to pay my respects to all those who lost their lives. RIP
Get in
❤️
So sorry. Prayers for you
🙏🏻🫂🙏🏻😭🙏🏻😖🙏🏻
@kenregan0324 - the memorial is actually at Lake Opeka in Des Plaines, IL -- I've been there, it's haunting for sure.
The memorial for this is located right by Lake Opeka just a few blocks from where I live. All the victim's names are on individual bricks.
I hope to see the memorial some day. I remember the crash like it was YESTERDAY. It happened the same day I finished third grade.
I find myself this week in Chicago for work. I didn't know there was a memorial. I'll try to go pay my respect if the time is available.
I want to say the actual crash sight is over behind the police training site on Touhy. The trailer park is still there.
God rest their souls!!! 😢😢😢😢
I ‘member
Sigh...I worked at a savings and loan about 2 miles from where this happened at the time. A co-worker's daughter was an AA flight attendant and was scheduled to work this flight. Once we knew what happened my co-worker Ruth was inconsolable since her daughter Patti was supposedly working the flight. About two hours after the crash, the savings and loan phone rang, and I was the one answering at the time, so of course I said "Thanks for calling X Savings and Loan, this is Susan, how can I help you?" -- the next words I heard were, "Susan, don't freak out - it's Patti, I was *not* on flight 191, I switched places with another attendant, and sadly she died. If my mom Ruth is still there, can I please speak with her?" Thankfully, Ruth was still at work, and I was more than happy to connect them!
Woaw....karma
As an aircraft mechanic in training, this is the sort of stuff I look for so that I can learn from these awful experiences and become better at what i do. The end goal is always to make the skies safer for everyone. There is no place in anyone’s role for any negligence
Your job is way more important than people realize, we (the passengers) really appreciate you!
I’m a HGV mechanic and with a road vehicle that weighs 44 tons , I will do my job but then it must be checked by two other mechanics and signed off by both including me. Everything triple checked. I assume an aircraft mechanics job is similar.
I’m pretty negligent but then again I work at McDonald’s.
Negligence on the job that results in this many deaths should be treated the same as serial killers. Make people afraid to be negligent.
@@robsmithracing yes pretty much. I work on the engines for a living and everything gets checked multiple times. Also depending on the mechanics status/clearance. So if someone with not so much experience does something it gets checked 4 times not 3 times
As usual, it came down to saving money
Yep, so many accidents; “here, put these oxygen canisters in the cargo hold until we find a place to store them” and “that part is still good, leave it”. Two famous accidents and May God rest the souls of those who realized they were doomed.
As always, the real problem is capitalism.
@@shingshongshamalama Omg. Don’t go there. This happens across all forms of government. Everything boils down to money even in communist regimes.
@@onethousandtwonortheast8848 they were oxygen generators. Plus, the NTSB had previously recommended that fire extinguishers and smoke detectors in cargo holds be mandatory after a 1988 fire in the cargo hold of another plane.
@@shingshongshamalama Aviation experts call it tombstone technology.
Imagine being so close to the safety of the ground only to be unable to do anything but accept your fate. I can only hope the victims only suffered for a short time and went quickly.
In many cases you actually want to be high above the ground when something like this happens
@@theshermantanker7043 on a doomed flight I would rather the time between knowing I am going to die and death is as short as possible. High in the sky just prolongs the terror
I remember this well. I was in 6th grade, and my Dad and I literally took this EXACT same flight, exactly 7 days before this. Same flight number, time, destination, everything. I consider us VERY lucky. I still have the plane ticket receipt in a box somewhere.
Might even have been the same plane. A chilling thought...
A fun fact, the flight number is the route to a given destination, they're usually scheduled routes that may or may not be serviced by the same aircraft. Glad you and yours are with us
You are so lucky
Show meh please
@@t.b.5115 Wasn't looking for sympathy. But as a kid, scared of flying... It really freaked me out.
This accident has always particularly horrified me. There were so many odd quirks - the captain wasn’t supposed to be on that flight. Parents who just happened to take a last minute trip to Hawaii and died. The CCTV footage available to passengers - showing them an external view of their imminent crash. And, most of all, the death toll. The way this plane went down was so preventable, and that is the saddest thing of all. Thank you for making another excellent video.
It wasn't preventable for the pilot maybe if he noticed earlier but at depaqrture a lot of things can happen. Just the maintenance crew screwed up big time
@@saladasss2092 That is what I mean. If the maintenance had been performed correctly, this accident would never have happened.
@@kristita_888 and it even said that maintainance shortcut was common practice
@@saladasss2092 It was common practice at a couple of airlines - American and Continental. BUT that practice was not consistent with how the recommended procedure for the DC-10 stated that engines 1 and 3 should be removed from the pylon and wing. This is one thing I’m pretty familiar with, as my father made his career in maintenance with Continental Airlines, working from mechanic all the way up to manager. He would not allow the men (they were all men in maintenance back then) to remove engines and pylons from the wings as one assembly - he insisted on following correct Douglas Company procedure.
@@kristita_888 I wished there were more people like him instead of companies trying to cut corners to save money and endangering lives
My father was an eyewitness to the crash. He drove a delivery van around Chicago and was offloading a shipment of beer right by the airport when it went down.
I'd have delivered that beer to myself after seeing something like that, good god
@@YourPalKindred yeah, right?
My dad was getting a haircut before his high school graduation when he saw the smoke cloud. Years later, we saw that my elementary school made a memorial for a student who was on the flight. It consisted of a drawing that the student had drawn, talking about what they were going to do on their summer vacation. The scary part was that the drawing of the plane was the same angle as the photo was taken. My parents still find it unsettling. RIP to those we lost. ❤
I remember this day vividly. My brother and i were in the back yard playing and we saw black smoke to the east. Keep in mind our house was about 25 miles west of O'Hare airport. My father who traveled internationally immediately told us by looking at the smoke that a plane had crashed. This accident still upsets me to this day especially after learning the circumstances of the tragedy. I pray the victims families have found peace.
I got off the school bus and could see that huge plume of black smoke. It was shocking to see for sure. I always thought about this and DC-10s when we would fly.
A good friend of mine’s girlfriend was on that flight. I asked if it helped or made more difficult the fact that the whole country was grieving and tuning into it. He said for him it was a little harder because the coverage was so extensive and ever-present. I can see that. So super sad. Grateful to the elementary school that got the memorial put up!
Pretty much every time you turn on a TV you're reminded your loved one died in a horrible way. My dad's cousin went through that with his wife after 9/11.
What was her name?
What an odd question....While someone is grieving you literally asked them if it made them feel any better that people who didn't know them were grieving as well? I probably would had just been like "well you know shirley it sure does help that the country is helping me deal with my loss by grieving as well....Yep". Dafuq.
@@dr3dnaut38 it's a weird question between strangers maybe, but an ordinary question between good friends who are trying to make sense of everything.
@@dr3dnaut38 In a way, it can help. A lot of people want to know their loved one isn't forgotten. People taking a "who cares" attitude to your loved one dying would be much worse.
I remember this like it was yesterday. I was in 8th grade. I recall watching it on the news with my family. My dad was a helicopter design engineer. When he discovered the company he worked for was cutting corners, he resigned. His repeated warnings about an imminent crash were ignored. Weeks later one crashed, killing both test pilots on board. That haunted my father for the rest of his life. He believed he should have done more. I distinctly remember him suggesting this flight disaster, AA191, was the result of poor maintenance and cost cutting by AA. Boy, was he correct. Spot on. So preventable. So tragic. 😢
This accident haunted my childhood first flight. It happened about a week before my first trip on a plane. That picture you showed at the beginning of the video was all over the news at that time. When the flight I was on took off and banked over Lake Michigan to take it's turn to Boston I lost my mind thinking we were having the same kind of accident as the plane in the photo was banked. My parents had a hell of a time getting me to calm down after that.
really? Back in 1979 parents would just break off a little piece of a Quaalude to calm kids down, maybe some Valium to just take the edge off. You know, put it in their whiskey to keep them from crying on the plane.
@@JubeProductions Not if they were particularly straight-edge or religious.
@@herpderpy9445 yeah, you are right. I guess I was just trying to make the guy laugh but failed. It's not that funny now that I read it back.
Wow, what a lingering and
unsettling memory that must be.
I'm sorry you had to go through that. PTSD can affect not only plane crash survivors but plane crash witnesses too. What you went through was normal and understandable. I read somewhere that after 9/11, 40% of Americans were showing signs of PTSD. I was one of them. I was nowhere near NY when it happened, but I had constant nightmares about planes crashing for around two years. Watching the second plane hit the South Tower on repeat on the news for 6 months after the incident didn't help matters.
The disasters where the passengers barely even lift off and then instantly die, such as this one and the Challenger disaster, are the most frustrating ones....
Most plane crashes happen during takeoff and landing; it's when the plane performs its most complex mechanical maneuvers, and undergoes the most strain.
Also, the astronauts in the challenger didn’t instantly die. They were likely alive for a few hours.
@@jamesjones1226 minutes. If anyone was alive they died on the 300 G impact into the ocean
@@faranocks That's incorrect, most plane disasters occur during cruise flight. Takeoff and landing are the most dangerous if you account for time, as these phases are much shorter.
@@stsk1061 ??? You are wrong, but ok. 2004-2013 statistics say that over 60% of accidents happen during takeoff and landing, and that only 10% of accidents happen while the plane is cruising, the rest happening during initial taxi, climb and approach. By both relative time and overall frequency, planes are just less likely to crash/fail while cruising. www.1001crash.com/index-page-statistique-lg-2-numpage-3.html
My father was an AA captain and a check airman for AA DC-10 crews. He had just flown a flight from NY to ORD doing a check flight for a crew. They landed at ORD and he and his crew were heading back to LAX. Initially, there was no room aboard the first return flight to LAX. They were scheduled to return to LAX aboard flight 191. When room became available for my dad and his crew aboard the first flight back to LAX they departed. Upon arriving to LAX he found out about the later flight, 191, accident. He knew the entire flight crew. RIP to all the lives lost that day.
In retrospect my father told me much was learned from this accident not only about maintenance protocols but training of flight crews. After the flight 191 accident flight crews would train for events such as this.
My Dad was in nearby Elk Grove Village at the time of crash. He didnt see the plane go down, but did see the fireball. His first reaction was that he thought we were nuked.
Tell your dad if he was nuked he won't see fire but blue light and then vanish
your dad must have no idea what a Nuke is
Before the internet, a huge fireball like that would have looked like a small nuke.
A nuke would kill everyone right away
@@BlueflagAlpha no they wont in Nagasaki and Hiroshima some people and animals survived the blast but where gravely injured nukes don't do that
As the saying goes, “If the pilot screws up, the pilot/passengers die. If ATC screws up, the pilot/passengers die. If the mechanic screws up, the pilot/passengers die.” Breaks my heart to hear this. RIP to all of those involved in this awful accident.
That's not a very catchy saying...
I've never heard that saying, ever
That's... more like a factual statement
Oh that saying? Yes... yes..
@@Salac0 As the saying goes, “if you are born, you die. If you live to 20, you die. If you eat food, you die”
Or soemthing like that
That flight still haunts me today. My dad was almost on that flight. The reason he wasn’t was because the flight was full. He told me, “Never rush to make a flight.” That’s what I do and what I tell my family.
.. That's not a life saving philosophy. Its all chance. Its just as likely that you doom yourself being on the 2nd flight if that were to happen.
My cousin was on the plane he died very young
@@cindyh7355 name?
@@coder928 exactly. That was prob the most nonsensical piece of advice I’ve ever heard.
I think it's good advice don't try to force your way on a flight.
How something like this could have happened?
"... however at American Airlines mechanics a technicians developed a plan..."
Oh yes, all clear...
Most likely he was forced to that, to push the numbers. It's a disgrace for every society that something like this can happen.
Stuff like this happens all of the time, believe it or not.
Most aviation regulations are by objective. Lots of operators will find easier and more efficient ways to accomplish those objectives.
For example, Continental Airlines only bought four 707s to start and that was not enough to maintain their schedule with the required overhauls since each jet would have to be taken out of service for a week to accomplish it.
So they did all maintenance at night and broke the overhaul into “phase checks” that could be accomplished during the nightly maintenance.
It’s still used by virtually all airlines today.
But when Aloha did it.. it wasn’t comprehensive enough because of the corrosive environment they operated in and the high number of cycles the aircraft would accumulate on short island hops. They also had substandard methods of inspection.
So.. what needs to be done is a risk assessment. Like.. those bolts are designed to shear should one of them fail, could installing the engine in this manner cause them to fail? Often these risk assessments have to be presented to the regulatory body and an official change be made in their procedures rather than just doing it because it’s faster or cheaper.
As in the video, other airlines were doing the same or similar procedures, despite the guidance from the manufacturer.
The longer i looked into the comments the more i realize that with the internet, people could share their experience with this on a whole different perspective
And more people can lie. Way to many people in the comments knew someone or saw the plane crash
I ate my kids ♿️♿️♿️♿️🍔
@@jeffgo5742 A lot of people died in that crash, and O’Hare Airport even then wasn’t way off somewhere far from neighborhoods.
Makes me realize what idiots folks are today
@@jeffgo5742idiot
It’s my understanding that the way the engine flipped off the wing is a design feature, to avoid damage to the wing in case the engine breaks off; it was the pylon damage that really fucked everything.
Yes, the engines even to this day are designed to sheer under very severe circumstances in order to save the wing structure. They're designed to safely depart the aircraft missing the horizontal stab.
Yes, the rear connection took pieces with it that ultimately caused the high-lift devices to retract. Losing face pieces of the leading edge is not a major issue as there would still be lift generated downstream.
Yes but the pilot following procedure throttled back even with two engines I think it was because of assymetrical thrust but the left wing stalled when they slowed down . They may have made it otherwise.I worked in the hangar 6-C and talked to a mechanic on that crew.The forklift used in this procedure ran out of propane and the next shift took it.Unknown to the new crew, while waiting on a new tank of fuel for the forklift the hydraulics on the forklift "bled down"allowing the pylon to come impinged or bound up and the damage could not be seen without taking it apart again and inspecting it again which no one had a reason to suspect it was damaged.Onebof the mechanics I believe the crew chief committed suicide as a result.His name should be included in the toll.Lawyers for the airline fought the families of the victims every way that they could.Even their mechanics were thrown under the bus legally.It doesn't pay to take a shortcut to impress the boss, you will be blamed when you are in the witch hunt!It isn't fun and the only thing that can save you is proper documentation and work.
@@allanbrogdon5317 aircraft are designed to be able to fly with asymmetric thrust. In order to receive certification they must be able to fly with half their engines gone. I’m not entirely sure how it worked for tri-jets but I know that all modern aircraft can run with only one engine (or two in a four-engined case). The thrust imbalance would try and Dutch roll the aircraft, which is what happened when the high-lift eventually failed. The high-lift failure and the deceleration were only a disaster because they both happened. If one had happened but not the other, the aircraft likely would have been able to still fly.
Yes the engines are designed to break away if under extreme stress. Mainly from an engine so unbalanced and vibrating so badly that it risks tearing the wing apart. But for most engines the point of breakaway should often be at the bottom of the pylon. Where the pylon connects to the wing is supposed to be the strength point. Especially that rear Clevice. At the top of the pylon the failure is supposed to be the front connectors first, which would cause the engine to be flung down and away from the plane. Not tumbling over the top tearing apart the leading edge.
From what I understand, there was a shift change and they left the installation incomplete while resting on the fork lift. The lift sagged during this time putting great stress on the effected pylon mount causing the damage. The next shift adjusted the fork lift and finished installing the forward mount bolts, not being aware of the damage that had occurred to the airframe.
You are absolutely right and most of the commenters here are absolutely stupid.
That's true. It was also an unauthorized shortcut for replacing the engine.
The fact that a forklift staggered under the weight of the engine puts into perspective how monumentally heavy those things are
Yes, I've definitely read the same. Poor folk on the flight
My Cousin was a flight attendant for a time. I always worried about her safety.
She told me horror stories about her experiences as a flight attendant.
Near crashes. Those scary stories always made my heart pump faster.
I am elated she retired from the airlines.
I too was a flight attendant, and for American. In all of my MANY flights, we never had any close calls or impending doom! What your cousin told you is NOT THE NORM! Flying is safer than driving your car! Either she wanted to get some attention, or scare you and others not to fly and also, to make it seem like flying is dangerous. What airline did she fly for? I can NOT believe that she had so many close calls...🥴
I actually suggested this incident as an example of poor forklift safety practices in a Health and Safety session my company put me in last week. The trainer's example involved a photo of Forklift Jenga but I thought I could go one better. I don't think he was expecting a plane crash.
I believe it was during this period they put CCTV monitors in the passenger cabins as a novelty for the passengers to watch the pilots do their work. The passengers would of seen the whole disaster and the idea was quietly shelved.
If the passengers knew nothing about flying would they really have noticed an emergency was going on?
I mean...Im sure they'd have felt the engine breaking off, but I know planes have more than 1 so I probably would've been scared but would've told myself "they have other engines, we're good."
Your comment just made me curious...
I just dont know if footage of pilots doing normal jobs, trying to save the plane - would've really stood out to me knowing nothing about flying a plane?
Of course....the plane being all sideways and all now THAT would've gave me the biggest hint that death was imminent.
@@thinlineofsanity1035 I would have been greatly concerned about weight distribution change, myself. Whether it could run using one less engine or not..
@@thinlineofsanity1035 There was a camera mounted directly behind the two pilots so the pax had a CLEAR view out the "pointy end" and could easily see the same thing the crew did in the wind screen. That being green grass QUICKLY coming up to meet them. Yeah, they KNEW their fate a few seconds prior to impact...
In those days, they had large projection screens in each passenger section that used RGB projectors, like the early home cinematic projection devices and screens. I remember at least one time when I flew with these on the plane. It showed the forward live view of the plane, plus airspeed, altitude and outside temperature readings in the margins. That was the first time I knew just how cold the air is at 33,000 feet. It was somewhere around -75 degrees.
My father was an ATC for 35+ years. I grew up hanging out at the airport where he worked, including many visits to the tower. I also visited other towers around the country when we were on vacation. I knew more about airplanes, airports, and air traffic control by the time I was 12 than most people do in their lifetimes. While I've never been as avid a fan of air travel as my dad, I did learn that I was far safer in a commercial airliner than in a car. It's even safer now than when I was growing up. Be far more concerned about your safety while driving or riding in a vehicle. If the daily road vehicle crashes across the US were covered like the crash of an airliner, you'd probably never get on the road again.
Honestly I feel like the notion that “cars are way more dangerous than airplanes” is because there is just so much more traffic and concentration on the roads than there are in the air. Although this does increase the number of car accidents by nature, airplane crashes are almost always deadlier and more devastating than car crashes.
@@maxton-_-4243 I agree I'll take my chances driving I don't think we was meant to fly we are not birds
I think it's the placement of your life into another human, who you don't know. Honestly I think that statistics say it all: planes are safer. But some people can't get over their fears of not always being in control.
@@jessicawixom3492 You're not meant to drive over 20mph, you're not a cheetah.
Funny how fatal car crashes are so normal that nobody cares enough to tell the world when they happen, but aviation disasters are so rare that almost every single one becomes international news, making people super scared of flying
My grandmas friend was suppose to be on that plane but she stayed home because she was sick, now that’s luck
Super lucky
You have proof? If not then you're just seeking attention for no reason lol
My great aunts ex husbands fathers cousins friends nephews former roommate was there that day, on his couch watching a tv show when the news broke about this crash. Talk about coincidence I tell ya.
@@tronnorth726 you comment on everything saying their family members/ friends almost died or died, wheres your proof they are lying
@@2dewest Proof for lying lmao.
I ain't the one making up stories to gain people's pity and likes lol.
I can say I was the pilot and caused it to crash on purpose lol
My father actually worked for the NTSB from 1979-1998 and he actually contributed to this investigation. He still cries about this event.
I can’t even imagine the anguish and hell these souls went through during these tragic minutes...
Agree, but it was mere seconds
This is one of those extremely rare scenarios that all we pilots fear in the back of our minds. Catastrophic structural failure...
There is, NO hope of recovery, or chance of survival.
We know that stark reality, and consider it during each take off roll, despite how rarely it ever happens.
Your statement is not surprising. I recall one pilot's last words, "Lord, you have my soul." May He keep you safe.
"NO hope of recovery"? Was it impossible to get that plane to turn right?
@@shocker4578
In the time allotted, and info available to the crew at the time, basically no, it was not recoverable.
Having been a pilot for 30 years I give precisely zero thought to structural failure as I roll down the runway. I very much doubt you’re a pilot.
@@peteconrad2077 You think that every pilot should be an exact copy of yourself?
I'll never ever forget this day, I was in highschool and working at a restaurant , we had a small black and white tv in the break room. It was just horrifying to see the pics with the plane flying like that.It really affected everyone.America was different back then.
Though it was helpful to the investigators. Because the CVR and FDR weren’t providing any help, that photo helped them see the hydraulic fluid and retracted slats.
@@Powerranger-le4up They likely would've discovered that anyway, they found the damage done prior to the engine detaching, and numerous people had seen the engine come off. Likewise witnesses would almost certainly have seen material leaking.
I was working as a travel agent in Los Angeles at the time this happened. It was devastating for many of my clients who had family and friends aboard the flight. If I remember correctly, this occurred at a time when United Airlines had been on strike, and American had operated many of UA's sacrificed routes. Speculation at the time was that proper maintenance between flights was not being done properly.
A bit more context for why this time wasn’t the same as every other - the forklift was left unattended for an extended period of time following a shift change, supporting the weight of the incorrectly disassembled and partially attached engine+pylon assembly. The forks, with no pump maintaining the hydraulic pressure, dropped under the load - but not by enough to be noticed. In turn, the unsecured pylon under the weight of itself and the engine, settled enough to jam the pylon against the bulkhead. The damage to the rear attachment point is thought to have happened when they were trying to break the pylon free. In the best circumstances this off book procedure was ill-advised and extremely difficult to do correctly in no small part because a forklift is a blunt instrument where precision was required.
There was a TV series here in Australia called 'Air Crash Investigations' and they did an episode on this crash.
I remember them mentioning the shift change & the engine left on the forklift.
Perfectly put.
I'm going to need the maintenance records of the airplane before getting on
What are you gonna read on them?
"Repairs done on the engine"
I don't think they'd put the unsafe repair procedure on public records.
if I remember correctly, the maintenance crew chief in Tulsa for that crew could not take the guilt of what had happened eight weeks after the maintenance work that his crew performed that caused this and he took his own life.
tbh the one who should have taken their own lives, or had a hitman on their doorstep was the higher ups who suggested the cost saving measures, not the crew
How tragic all the way around. There was a Russian (I think it was) air accident caused by an ATC mistake where a man lost his wife and only child in the resulting crash. The man ended up stalking and finding out where the ATC lived and went to his home and stabbed him to death. Accidents affect so many in many different ways, sadly. So many victims are not in the crash itself..
@@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043 Uberlingen mid air collision.
I think you be confusing that with Japan Airlines 123.
@@Powerranger-le4up memory is going quickly. I just remember the aftermath but not the airline..
Bionic woman star actress Lindsay Wagner was supposed to be on that plane. She was doing some promotional work for the snow along with her mother. For some reason she had an ominous feeling of doom for the flight home.. stewed about it for days. It became so strong she finally changed her flight to a later one. She said she wonders why they were saved. Never had that feeling before or since. The studio was horrified thinking she was on that plane until she called. Errie
It wasn’t her time. It’s literally not eerie. Some people die of things others walk away from. Ever hear about the woman whose airplane exploded midair and she fell 22000 ft into the Amazon jungle and it took a couple days but she walked out of that jungle intact?! (Nobody was looking for her. Her plane exploded with everyone on board assumed dead.) It wasn’t her time 🙌🏽🤓 lol. Literally not eerie. 💁🏻♀️😉
@@keetahbrough Or the people who were absent from or late for work at the World Trade Center.
@@keetahbrough I doubt if it works that way. There are thousands of people who get spooked and decide not to fly - like me - and the flights I would have taken were just fine every time. Out of those thousands who get spooked and decide not to fly - now and then - one will avoid a real crash. Lindsay Wagner was one such case. You are counting the hits and ignoring the misses.
It's called fate, predestination. Our lives are predestined before we live it. This life is a dream anyway, when we die we wake up
What is scary about this is that the pilots reacted exactly as they were supposed to with the loss of the #1 engine. The cutting of the hydraulic lines and the retraction of the slats was information that they did not have. They were doomed as soon as the damage occurred from losing the engine. There isn’t anything they could have done differently with the information that they had.
Even had they had slat disagree lights, by the time they saw them, the plane was beginning to roll, and at 300 feet, I don't think they would have time to recover.
The A/A training of reducing power with an engine out I never did understand.
Full power all the way out might have saved them, I'm not sure.
Makes me wish with everything in me, the pilot's had known the slats had retracted.
Unfortunately there was one thing they could have done, and it probably would have saved the aircraft. There is an Emergency Power switch on the overhead panel, and had either pilot (or possibly the FE?) switched it to ON when they lost many of the instruments, it would have restored Slat Disagree and more importantly the FO's stick shaker for at least the next 30 minutes. Enough time to detect/avoid the incipient stall and return to the airfield for a fairly straightforward overweight landing.
You’re getting one thing wrong. AA opted not to put a stick shaker on the FOs control column when they bought the a/c even though it was an available option from MD. The requirement for dual stick shakers came out of this accident, along with the requirement to have mechanically locking actuators for LE slats, and the emergency procedures for an engine-out were also revised to maintain present speed, not slow down to V2.
@@get2dachoppa249 You're right (that I was getting one thing wrong ; ) Emergency Power would have restored the *captain's* stick shaker. As you point out (and I was aware of, prior to Brain Freeze) the FO had no stick shaker to restore.
Regarding slats, DAC had originally been able to skip incorporating locks and/or fuses in the hydraulic lines because they successfully demonstrated to the FAA in flight test that even with all slats retracted on one side, the aircraft remained airworthy (note 191 only had its slats outboard of the pylon retract). Unfortunately this test was done during cruise flight, neither DAC nor the FAA having anticipated 191's scenario. A wing engine departure was covered in the Failure Modes & Effects Analysis (FMEA) which DAC submitted to the FAA, but only in the context of being a loss-of-aircraft event. So it wasn't something they designed for.
Regarding why airline training was to reduce power on the remaining engines and fly at V2 (minimum safe flying speed), my non-powerplant-specialist guess is the idea was to minimize the chance of a second engine failure soon after they had just lost one -- avoid the higher temperature/mechanical stress/chance of failure that goes with higher power levels. Sort of like when one tightens a bolt, and backs it off just slightly so that if it happened to be near its failure stress, now it won't be. Recall that back when these procedures were set, turbojet engines were far less reliable than in the decades following. And they also had to consider the likelihood of prolonged flight on the remaining engines (fuel dump, troubleshooting etc), in which case the remaining engines were going to be at elevated power/temperature for some time one way or the other... so don't make it worse by running at higher power levels early on when by definition you ought to be able to safely throttle back to V2. As 191 showed, however, maybe that was no longer the best way to minimize overall risk.
@@get2dachoppa249
Stick shaker wouldn't have mattered.
Crazy, my dads brother saw the smoke from 294 as he was on the way home from college. My mom at the time had a summer job as a receptionist at a hotel right by O’Hare. She had wives calling asking if there husbands had checked out since they were on this flight.
my grandfather on my dad’s side actually saw the plane crash right infront of him, he was on his way home from job as a chemical engineer a couple blocks away.
This is perhaps one of the saddest crashes in Aviation history, short of the Tenerife disaster which IMO probably takes the top spot. But in this one, a plane full of people (plus I think some on the ground) lost their lives, because the airline was trying to do a short cut during maintenance and save money. But in the end, it cost them more than just money.
I'd put JAL123 in there as well, just because of how hard the pilots fought to save the plane even when it was too late. The passengers' fears while the plane was continuously ascending and descending, with mountain ranges on either side. Then, to top it off, the fact that many likely survived the crash, only to die of exposure/untreated injuries because rescue operations were deemed "not worth the risk" (since the general opinion was that nobody could have survived). And all because of faulty maintenance that could have been prevented. Just heartbreaking and infuriating.
When I was stationed in England, back in 2005, my wife and I took a vacation to Tenerife. I had no idea at the time it was the location of the worst air disaster until I was later reading up on the island.
Actually, the USA had troops in the area, and wanted to help, and Japan refused the help. Survivors said several people died waiting for help.
@@alhanes5803 The fact there was a terror threat at the neighboring airport at the time didn't help.
Ooooof, Tenerife defo takes the cake. It all came down to a stubborn man’s decision and that ended with over 500 souls being lost. I can’t comprehend it.
This is why you don't skip maintenance.
it's not that they "skipped" maintenance, it's that they did a shitty job and broke some stuff because they were using a forklift to remove and replace the engine.
No, that wasn't the reason.
I was 8 years old and remember very clearly watching this on TV. I was glued to the TV and, as best as I could, followed this story. I never wanted to fly in a DC 10 after that.
I used to beg my parents to take me out to O'Hare just so that I could see the jets taking off. As a little kid, I was obsessed with flying. I remember the wall-to-wall coverage of the crash really having an effect on me, as it did with the entire city of Chicago.
you can still do so. there are even roads you driv on where planes fly right above you. its crazy ohare has gotten much bigger since this accident as well. its always cool to se peoples faces as im comming back on a plane. they never been to chicago and the whole airport is huge. takes forever to get to the terminals.
Wow, this unearthed a memory I haven't thought about for decades. My grandma taking me to see the international jets take off. I never set foot on a plane until I was nearly 10, and living out near the countryside, I only ever saw crop dusters. The huge American jumbos lifting off effortlessly seemed surreal to watch. Thank you for the nostalgia.
@@beth4928 What a great memory!
@@DragonFox84 I hate it now, 21 years since moving from Chicago. Too big! Before 9/11 my mom and I would sometimes go there and have lunch and watch the planes. My first husband and I used to like walking around there.
All I can think about is the fear within the people inside the plane. What a way to go. It's so, I don't even know how to explain. My heart feels for those people and all the people that have passed on from air disaster.
There have been crashes that were far worse for the passengers unfortunately, such as in-flight fires, and the JAL flight that had minimal control for half an hour before it crashed.
Musta been scary af when that banked left like that, they knew they were gonna die. I remember seeing that on the news as a kid and being so sad that nite for those ppl.
I think that the saddest thing is knowing that someone knew that they were going to die. This and the victims on the planes of 9/11 (flight 93 in particular) come to mind. At least with flight 93, the victims had time to come to terms with their decision.
The actress Lindsay Wagner (of The Bionic Woman fame) was booked on this flight together with her mother. But she felt uneasy about it and convinced her mother that they should not board.
Fake news
Wow, very interesting
also John Holmes was booked onto the flight but at the last minute had to go do a "money shot" , to "big john" he never turned down a paying job. This time it saved his life, he was known as a "giant" in the industry.
Lol
@@High-Alpha what’s funny?
That would suck to be on a plane upside down with your young kids, knowing that it was seconds away from slamming into the ground. Can't imagine.
Absolutely crazy and heart dropping pictures. RIP to all the passengers hopefully it was quick and they didn't endure much x
Unimaginable 🙏
It’s crazy to go through these comments and see how many people knew someone related to this tragedy. The effect of this crash truly is still felt to this day.
Your videos are top notch - full of information, context, and description. Keep up the excellent work!
RIP to all 271 people who were killed aboard flight 191 and the 2 people on the ground who perished
Thank god that avaiation has progressed to where it has today. God bless all of the lost souls over the years that have taught aviation the do’s and don’ts of what to do during emergency situations and, have improved flying overall as a industry whole.
Sure...
"don't cut corners" :'(
Progressed?
The 737 MAX debacle had the same root cause: Profits over People.
@@Bartonovich52 overall YES, aviation has progressed!
My Dad was with the CFD and was on the scene. I was 4 and it was one of the only times I ever saw my Dad cry as he talked about flagging body parts to my Mom. I overheard as I was snopping..
I remember getting off of the school bus and walking to the house to see a large black plume off in the distance. Turned on the news to see what had happened. I was in elementary school at the time and didn't really follow what happened during this disaster. Thank you for making the video. I always thought the engine came off after the plane took off. Tragic that so many lives lost due to shortcuts.
It is stunning how small things take down these complex machines.
No one has ever made a foolproof mouse trap mush less a foolproof airplane.
There are hundreds upon hundreds of redundancies inside of most modern in aircraft but there are just some things that you can’t reinforce.
Anything made by man can, and eventually will fail. The properties of any material cannot hold forever. But..this wasn't the materials fault, as Engineers will always "over engineer" to prevent this from happening. But when you get a group of mechanics who were all about "quick and easy"...that was what made all the engineering meaningless. And to think, this happened to two other USA DC 10's due to the same quick go around that was never to have been performed.
Most transportation regulations are indeed written in blood. Sounds macabre, but it’s true.
@@patrickmollohan3082 The other two DC-10's lost was due to a cargo door faulty design. After the first one, a window was put in so line guys on the ground could see the dogs were engaged when closing the door. Second Turkish one happened because the door closing instructions were in English and the Turkish line guy couldn't read them and didn't ensure the dogs were engaged.
@@richstewart1
Thank you sir. 👍✈
Great video, very informative as always. Your quality is getting better and better.
I was supposed to have been on the flight. But a lady at the ticket counter found me and asked if I would give up my seat so that a family of 5 could board the plane. As compensation, they gave me a direct flight to Houston with no layovers. I just had to leave 2 hours later but would still get to Houston faster. I watched in horror as the plane crashed and exploded. Even though I was just 20, my body just gave out on me. I collapsed to the ground thinking of that young family who took my seat just died. Then I found the closest phone and called my mom and dad to let them know I had been bumped and put on another flight.
No disrespect if it’s true but I strongly doubt this is true due to you know, this being the internet. However if it is true that must have been shocking.
1 seat for a family of 5?
@@cyanoticspore6785
It could have been 4 seats plus this one for a family of 5.
@@nihluxler8823 oh right
Nope
My father was a pilot based out of O’Hare. He was driving to the airport that day to pick something up when he saw the crash. At first, he just saw what looked like white smoke but was apparently the fuel and hydraulic fluid. Then the plane started to bank. He was driving on Touhy Avenue, towards the airport and near the oil tank field to the left and just west of the trailer park and crash site. Thank God the plane didn’t hit the tank field. His view was similar to the photo in the beginning. I’ve always wondered why my dad had to see this. Absolutely, unbelievably shocking.
Excellent review. Thank you, and take care out there.
Coincidentally watching this on May 25th 2021, exactly 42 years after the accident. May their souls and families have found peace 🙏
I remember seeing that horrifying photo of the plane on the front page of the newspaper. I was a kid but I’d fly with my grandmother every year to visit relatives, and I was terrified to fly after seeing that photo.
David booth' premonition. Linda Wagner was also supposed to be on this flight with her mom but started feeling sick at the airport. She told her mom they were going to leave, she said when she left the terminal she felt much better
Just found your channel from the Spanair flight 5022 video since I was doing an assignment on that accident for an aviation safety class. Love your channel bro, keep up the great work
Thank you, best of luck on your assignment!
@@DisasterBreakdown excellent video. Great info
the 2 people who disliked this dont know what quality content is.
😢 Idk why I keep watching videos about plane crashes..
Is because your scared of flying not becoz your enjoying how the planes are crashing
😣😣😣😣😿😿😿😿💔💔💔💔
Amazing vid mate these are absolutely amazing and informing
Great video, your channel is sooo underrated
RIP
To the passengers and crew of American Airlines Flight 191 and the two people on the ground
Anytime I see a video on a crash, I always see comments from airline mechanics saying they watch these as a reminder to make them better. I haven't been on one in twenty years cause they freak me out. That said, thank you guys for taking safety that serious in these. You guys are unsung heroes
If I could offer you a suggestion that might help with your anxiety, there's a channel here on RUclips called Happy Landings. It's a 24-hour stream showing air traffic around the Las Vegas airport. If you sit and watch it for 20 minutes, it gets pretty boring, but it shows how quickly planes take off and land and how many get off without a hitch. It helps quell my anxiety before I have any flights.
Well written, excellent description of the event and very good diction from the narrator.
These videos are so remarkably well done
I bet the pilot who was originally going to fly the plane had the feeling of ‘ there by the grace of god ‘. I know if it was me I would have felt devastated.
Indeed!! My friend was a flight attendant who was scheduled to fly on American Airlines flight 11 who impacted the North Tower of the World Trade Center; as 9/11 unfolded. About an hour before AA flight 11 took off on that fateful day, a co worker approached her to see if she’d like to switch flights due to the fact that she had to be back on the west coast at an earlier hour for an early meeting; The rest is History, I can’t imagine what I’d feel like if I avoided a 550 MPH impact into a WTC structure because of an early meeting!! The Serendipity of life on full display for my friend, not for her co-worker...
@@jiaconis definitely. That’s fate playing a part there, no doubt. Thankfully your friend was saved but unfortunately the co-worker wasn’t. Absolutely awful.
@@mrkipling2201 To be sure! Her name was Pam, she was on the first flight out of Boston when flights were resumed, a couple weeks later, I haven’t seen her fora long time; but she’s probably still flying...
@@jiaconis i hope she is, it would be horrible to think that some scummy terrorists stopped her doing a job that she loves. They win if she stopped.
@@mrkipling2201 To be sure Mr Kipling! Thanks!!
"By the late 1970s, the DC-10 had already been involved in multiple fatal accidents." Great. Do you know how many times I went to California on one of those when I was a kid? I'm lucky to be alive.
Yours is quickly becoming my favorite air disaster investigation channel.
I was at O'Hare that day and that time, Friday 5/29/79. Weekly visits to Univ of Chicago for computer work. My manager had the car and he wanted to go to LA for the weekend so we left work early. We both had 5pm tickets, his for LA and me for Newark. He wanted to get on that flight but we were running late. We were checking in when we heard the explosion. A noise that loud in an airport means only one thing.
Everyone became quiet. Only ticket printers and conveyors could be heard. Everyone looked at each other with the same "glad it's not me" look. Later, we learned that it was the flight my manager wanted to get on. I recall outbound traffic re-directed away from the burning wreckage yet everyone strained out their windows to get a glimpse. I didn't see it.
In 2009, 30 years later to the day, I Googled my manager who moved to LA. I phoned him and he answered with his name and I quickly asked "where were you today 30 years ago?" and he immediately replied "Hi Mark". No reply in 2019.
Come on RUclips algorithm pick this channel up
You deserve way more subs and views for your work
Really love your videos 🔥🛫
I subscribed yesterday. Your videos put a lot of relevant info in them.
It will get there. I remember the other flight channel had like 1,800 subs then a year later, hundreds of thousands...now it's a million.
This is the saddest accident I’ve ever studied, if only the stick shaker was also on the first officers side they might have been able to land it, instead those 272 people had to endure knowing they would die. The most shocking thing to me was that American Airlines got 25000000 in insurance pay outs and tried to hide it. When I fly it’s never with them because of this, I can’t believe what they put those families through knowing that there cut throat practices caused that engine brackets to break , shame on you. Then the DC10, which proved to be a descent airliner was forever tarnished due to incompetence on the part of the media and the lead investigator.
Yeah, the way I understood it, the stick shaker for the co-pilot's controls was available as an option, but one the operator decided against purchasing. Another big "what if," however, was pure engineering. In design it had been decided that slats position would be maintained with hydraulic pressure alone. Older airliners had independent mechanisms that would lock the slats in place. Had that mechanism been retained in the DC-10's design, those slats wouldn't have retracted under aerodynamic pressure once the hydraulic system failed.
Hardly surprising they got an insurance payout, a plane was destroyed. Naturally airlines might 'hide' it, as nobody wants to hear about airlines receiving a payment after a crash.
The final settlement with victims families was $110 million, which may well have been paid by the insurance company.
Insurance would be pointless if they didn't pay out.
Nice video. Well done.
Awesome video!
Such a senseless loss of life over a timesaving shortcut.
My mom was a flight attendant. They called that plane the "Death Cruiser 10"; they were obviously not fond of it.
Crews and flight attendance loved the 10.
Who is they?
I served in the U.S. Air Force from 2000 to 2014 as an aircraft hydraulic mechanic. Deviating from technical orders that guide maintenance procedures such as this engine removal/installation would have to be approved by engineers and not the organization performing the maintenance. Of course, a lot has changed since this happened in 1979.
great explanation
Air safety unfortunately is, and always will be, improved mostly through fatality. This was even the case as far back as the Wright brothers.
You are underrated and deserve way more subscribers. Good video as always!
This is an EXCELLENT video. I watch a lot of these. This particular production is accurate, well articulated and concise.
Fantastic job indeed !
Saw the O Hare photos in a magazine back in the 80s of the fate of that flight. Dramatic stuff.
My grandpa was on that plane one flight before and saw it crash when he got out of the airport.
He must have stayed at the airport for a long time, as it’s a several hour turnaround time to clean, restock, refuel, and reload the airplane.
I remember this. Was on front page of newspapers the next day (quite an achievement back in 1979 pre-digital). There were 2 employees of Playboy Magazine on that flight and Playboy did a huge editorial article in their next issue about this.
Thanks that was very educational
Do one on Northwest Airlines flight 255 in 1987. That crash kept me from getting on a plane until 2009. My sisters and I literally cried every time my dad would have to get on a Northwest flight. Enjoy your videos. Much love from Detroit.
My whole thing is how do you come to find out a bend or crack happened before the actual crash where everything is literally bending and cracking and exploding?
Hi! Things like metal fatigue often have very noticeable ways of tearing. When a plane crashes, it shows damage that correlates with the surroundings and situation: as does the metal when it cracks and explodes. Metal fatigue often can be identified by a ‘starting’ area and an area of failure: these two areas look significantly different. When a plane crashes and its metal explodes/deforms, it looks shattered and has the same level of damage along the seams. I hope it makes sense!
The broken attachment mount was attached to the engine, laying on the runway still bolted together.
The other piece was found at the crash site.
It had damage on it, that matched the shape of the top of the pylon.
The pylon could only have hit the the attachment, causing the damage , with the bolt out.
When bolted in place, the damaged area would have been , don't know this distance for sure, maybe two inches away from each other.
When they removed the bolt, the engine tilted, up, in the rear, striking the pylon.
@@alhanes5803 smh this is why I pray before even the shortest flights
@@HobbyDMV honestly bud, the chances of ypu being in an accident of any type while flying are the same as winning the lottery (not exactly the same chances but comes really close) so really you should just relax
@@NepNep8840 yes but clearly accidents happen and that’s always in the back of my mind 😭 especially nowadays. I lose faith in society and it’s ability to maintain itself more and more by the hour
Oop, this was right in my hometown! Somehow makes it even more scary.
I remember this day quite well. My first job out of school working in a lab that faced the airport. I remember watching a plume of black smoke coming from around 5 miles from O’Hare. Seemed like it burned forever.