United Flight 232

United Flight 232

In July of 1989, halfway through its journey from Denver to Chicago, United Airlines Flight 232 was rocked by an explosion. Its tail engine was gone and its entire hydraulic system had shut down, so the flight crew was left with no flight controls, no slats, and no flaps……..but there was still hope.
 

Allec Ibay’s did a flight simulator recreation of this incident that is pretty amazing. The quality of the video narrative makes it very gripping as it shows the incredible solution the crew found to their predicament: controlling the plane entirely by increasing and decreasing thrust from the two remaining engines.

When it came down hard at Sioux Falls City, the jet flipped and fire-balled, but 185 of the 290 people aboard survived.

Pilot Alfred C. Haynes and Denny Fitch, an expert DC-10 instructor who chance placed aboard the flight, were credited with saving those lives.

If you decide to watch this, I guarantee it will have your heart pounding. I remember watching news accounts of this at the time but had no idea how miraculous it was that they accomplished what they did.

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