THIRTY-TWO YEARS AGO ON JULY, 19TH OF 1989, UNITED AIRLINES PASSENGER FLIGHT 232 CRASHED AT SIOUX GATEWAY AIRPORT IN SIOUX CITY.
THE AIRLINER CARRYING 296 PEOPLE FROM DENVER TO CHICAGO SUFFERED HYDRAULIC FAILURE.
BECAUSE THE PLANE WAS ABLE TO STAY AIRBORNE, A FLEET OF FIRE TRUCKS AND AMBULANCES WERE LINED UP AT THE AIRPORT WAITING AND HOPING FOR A SAFE OUTCOME.
CAPTAIN AL HAYNES, THE PILOT OF THE AIRLINER, WAS COMMUNICATING WITH THE AIRPORT TOWER, TRYING TO MAKE IT TO THE AIRPORT WITH NO STEERING:
232A OC…….IF WE CAN. :15
THE LOSS OF HYDRAULICS RESULTED IN THE PLANE ONLY BEING ABLE TO MAKE RIGHT TURNS WITH TURNING COMPARABLE TO DRIVING AN OLD CAR WITH NO POWER STEERING:
232B OC……..MAKE IT A RUNWAY.. :17
AS THE PLANE DESCENDED, IT LOOKED LIKE IT MIGHT LAND SAFELY, BUT IT TILTED WITH A WING HITTING THE RUNWAY.
THE PLANE CARTWHEELED, BROKE INTO PIECES, BURST INTO FLAMES AND SKIDDED INTO A NEARBY CORNFIELD:
232C OC………THIS AIRCRAFT IS DOWN. :15
112 PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIVES BUT AMAZINGLY, 184 PEOPLE ON BOARD SURVIVED.
BESIDES THE WAITING EMERGENCY VEHICLES, SO MANY SURVIVED BECAUSE SIOUX CITY RESCUE PERSONNEL HAD PRACTICED AIRLINE CRASH DISASTER DRILLS IN THE RECENT PAST.
THAT ALSO LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TRI-STATE RADIO NETWORK FOR EMERGENCY RESPONDERS TO COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER AS CELL PHONES WERE NOT WIDELY IN USE IN 1989.
