http://graphics.chicagotribune.com/flight-191-anniversary/index.html
Off the subject of football for a moment.
Some of you may have read that tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of the worst accidental airline crash in U.S. history. And it happened right here at O'Hare on 05/25/1979 as American Airlines flight 191 crashed, killing everyone on board.
I am wondering if some of you remember where you were when you heard about it.
I remember exactly where I was at the moment the plane went down. I was in the observation floor of the Sears Tower which, I think, was 103 floors up with my girlfriend. I had just come home from college a couple weeks prior. I just happened to be looking in that direction a few moments before the plane went down. I didn't see it go down. But then, all of a sudden, I saw a ton of smoke.
My first thought was that maybe there was an explosion at a factory out there. Or maybe some other huge accident. O'Hare is a long way from the Sears Tower. But you can see that airport if the visibility is right. If I remember correctly, there was a slight haze at the time.
I never imagined it could be a plane crash. We watched the smoke continue to rise and if my memory serves, it was drifting north too. After a while we decided to go down and head home.
When we got back to the car and turned the radio on we learned that there had been plane crash at O'Hare. Then, I realized what I was looking at just a little while ago. They weren't reporting anything else at that early time. But the next thing I remembered, they said it was a DC 10 that went down. I told my girlfriend, if that plane was close to capacity then a lot of people were killed.
The next day, I had to go up near the crash site for an event that was scheduled. As we got off 294 on Touhy going west, we couldn't get through as the road was blocked off and we had to take a different route. On the way back I wanted to visit the sight but couldn't get in.
You can see I never forgot any of that. Now, to hear some of the living family members of victims talk about it brings it all back. An event I'll never forget.
Off the subject of football for a moment.
Some of you may have read that tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of the worst accidental airline crash in U.S. history. And it happened right here at O'Hare on 05/25/1979 as American Airlines flight 191 crashed, killing everyone on board.
I am wondering if some of you remember where you were when you heard about it.
I remember exactly where I was at the moment the plane went down. I was in the observation floor of the Sears Tower which, I think, was 103 floors up with my girlfriend. I had just come home from college a couple weeks prior. I just happened to be looking in that direction a few moments before the plane went down. I didn't see it go down. But then, all of a sudden, I saw a ton of smoke.
My first thought was that maybe there was an explosion at a factory out there. Or maybe some other huge accident. O'Hare is a long way from the Sears Tower. But you can see that airport if the visibility is right. If I remember correctly, there was a slight haze at the time.
I never imagined it could be a plane crash. We watched the smoke continue to rise and if my memory serves, it was drifting north too. After a while we decided to go down and head home.
When we got back to the car and turned the radio on we learned that there had been plane crash at O'Hare. Then, I realized what I was looking at just a little while ago. They weren't reporting anything else at that early time. But the next thing I remembered, they said it was a DC 10 that went down. I told my girlfriend, if that plane was close to capacity then a lot of people were killed.
The next day, I had to go up near the crash site for an event that was scheduled. As we got off 294 on Touhy going west, we couldn't get through as the road was blocked off and we had to take a different route. On the way back I wanted to visit the sight but couldn't get in.
You can see I never forgot any of that. Now, to hear some of the living family members of victims talk about it brings it all back. An event I'll never forget.
