WLS-TV coverage of flight 191 crash (5/25/1979) part 1

[hifijohn]

people have to understand this really wasnt an accident, McDonnell douglas warned american airlines maintenance crew not to remove the engine they way the did and it would cause a failure. but the maintence crew did care, this was going to happen.

[MrYankeefan228]

Hey SaleGuy, GO FUCK YOURSELF you insensitive prick!

Why don't you go and jerk off to wrestling videos u asshole!!

[zenmachinefilms]

Amazing seeing this footage. Horrifying.

[brendan129]

LOL @5:13. I thought it was only recently, the last 15 years or so that they began sensationalizing the everloving shit out of disasters. Guess I was wrong. Someone had to have drawn that in the newsroom, it's not like that had Google for an on the fly image search back then.

[foilseal]

i was there repoerting on this for msnbc. i found a human head at the scene but police said it was unrelated to the crash.

[BigTed5]

I was on the Kennedy Expressway at Cumberland heading to WIsconsin and heard the explosion and saw the fireball. I thought it was one of the fuel tanks east of Elmhurst Road, but I switched over to AM radio and the broadcasters were saying there were unconfirmed reports of a plane down near O'Hare. The memory haunts me still.

[alnilam66]

locking pin metal fatigue was the cause of the crash.

[alnilam66]

I was 11 years old when this happened. it was all over the news, and it scared the hell outta me

[tcwilke69]

@Texasboy...Amen, from Abilene.

[TexasboyfrmPaso]

.@saleguy go to hell u piece of shit

[ishotu747]

I am not too sure but ABC News had correspondent Max Robinson in Chicago to open the newscast to report this story. However Frank Reynolds in Washington DC was allowed to open instead and Max snapped over the satellite feed on a staff member.

[MrRonnieG]

AA191 went down because the DC-10 (unlike Boeing aircraft) used hydraulic pressure ONLY to maintain the extention of flaps & slats. When the engine, on the left wing, severed ~ all hydraulic pressure in the left wing was lost. Flats & slats retracted and the wing, effectively, stopped flying (i.e. lost lift). It was at this point the plane began its' fatal roll to the left and ultimately became inverted. I doubt the flight crew ever knew the engine had separated at the moment of rotation.

[tyrese3745]

WBBM-TV was still, I believe, Chicago's Number One News at the time of this horrible crash.

[tyrese3745]

273 people were on that flight (258 passengers, 13 crewpeople). No survivors.

[GeorgiaKev]

Such a horrible, horrible tragedy. My mom had a friend who's husband died on that plane. He left behind his wife and four kids.

[CocteauDalighari]

We heard about this on the East Coast a few minutes after it happened: it was big national news.

[ltlmsmetal]

I remember seeing the smoke in Lombard walking home from school..

[Ronf465]

The graphic at 5:12 is almost comical.

[Barnstormer1969]

@Ronf465 I agree.

[fringbenefit]

I was a sophmore at Von Steuben in chicago the day this took place. A DC-10 engine fell off upon take off, you could see the smoke for miles. so sad that everyone on the plane lost their life.

[BuccaneerBruce]

I flew out of there about 20 minutes before that plane took off. I remember seeing it when I arrived back in Tampa.

[Wizzardgirl]

I remember how amazingly windy it was that day. We could see the smoke from the crash when my Mom took me to Westmont and we crossed the Tri-State on Odgen Ave. I was supposed to go with my class to Washington DC the next weekend... I was only 12 and was too afraid to get on a plane. As it was, there was a family emergency and we had to fly out in mid-June and flew over the crash site. I don't think I have been able to fly without seeing that scorched field in my mind's eye since. May they rest.

[SaleGuy]

This was worst than Chris Benoit dying!

[SaucyWench7]

I was in high school to, but was in a work program, and working at a fast food restaurant in Lombard. I remember we all saw the smoke from 20-25 miles away and couldn't figure out what happened.

[30inventionman]

That reporter , left , is hot.

[mike196212]

I remember seeing a photo of the plane as it was rolling to the left.

[wheresthebeeph]

I remember watching this as it happened not knowing that a relative was on that flight. Sends chills down my spine to watch this again. I was only 18 at the time, we found out later that night uncle john was one of the victims.

[SaleGuy]

They got what they deserved...it was Satan's judgment!

[pettyofficer30]

@SaleGuy Go back to the Westboro baptist church you heartless fuck!

[SaleGuy]

@pettyofficer30 This was an act of murder by a drunk pilot with ties to Vince McMahon!

[planetearth1210]

@pettyofficer30 shut up ass hole

[tomzurek1]

I can remember when this happened. I heard sirens over and over.

[preo2]

Some idiot on here said that this is "fake" footage. This is a REAL news report you fuckin moron!

[temptation630]

My mom and me were just walking out the door at work that day and we saw the fireball and knew that it had to be a plane crash.

So terrible.

[mreasymark]

My parents were driving past on 294 as it happened. WOW!

[4wheelerDJ]

This disaster happened on my 12th birthday. Also, actress Lindsay Wagner and her mom were going to take this flight to L.A., but changed their minds at the last minute.

[dabaxter839]

I was living in Elk Grove Village when this happened. I had just gotten off the school bus (just off of Nerge Rd.) and saw the large plumes of smoke. We initially thought it was a fire at one of the buildings in the industrial park. My father was the regional manager for AA at O'Hare at the time this happened. I can't count the number of times we flew on the DC-10 before this happened. It took me many years to fly again. I still get a little nervous during take off.

[TheBATDJNuklier]

@lamby0000 , the DC-10 still had problems. remember the United airlines DC-10 that crashlanded in 1989? that incident was mechanical failure. AA 191 was human failure. the mechanics at American airlines did maintenance on AA 191 two months before it crashed. they removed the engine (that broke off) the wrong way inwhich caused a crack in the flange. that crack in the pylon assembly got worse week after week before that dreadful day.

[TheBATDJNuklier]

they didn't know that the engine that broke off supplied power to the cockpit controls.

[namor828]

i lived in des plaines i was kid when this happend i still rember this it was a really big deal at the time.

[sezwho2000]

I saw the smoke all the way up in Wheeling

[ogobby]

I remember walking home form school and we saw the smoke and heard sirens...found out what was going on when I got home

[nwadoug]

Thank you for posting this and part two.

[joeprovideeo]

I was very young and living on the Northwest side (Grand and Narragansett). I can remember hearing police and fire sirens for hours and hours that evening...

[radiodj1520]

In This Clip, From 9:08 To 9:43, It Was WLS-TV's Channel 7 Eyewitness News At 10 Video Open From Friday Night, May 25, 1979.

[radiodj1520]

In This Clip, From 0:00 To 9:06, WLS-TV's Channel 7 Eyewitness News Reports On Coverage Of The Crash Of American Airlines Flight 191 On May 25, 1979.

[eastest566]

Part 2 is up: /watch?v=U2-CgVLPJPw

[tommiej3]

@eastest566 I guess he still is

[tommiej3]

OMG - Jane Byrne! Whatever happened to her after Harold Washington beat her in 1983? Recall she beat Michael Bilandic in Feb 1979 (the heir apparent to Mayor Daley who died in 1976) because of pathetic snow removal efforts from a snow around the time of that election in 1979.

[doubleslottedflaps]

this is what happens when airlines cut corners to save a few bucks ! improper remove and replace of the engine cracked the mounts. AA order the dc10 with left seat stick shaker only and it didnt work after the engine broke off. several other airlines were improperly r&r the engines on their 10's and cracked mounts turned up. the blood of those killed is on the hands of the maintanance people that made the decision NOT to follow the maintainance manual.

[SaleGuy]

This is fake footage!

[nese67]

@SaleGuy Not fake footage I remember this I was 11 years old..lived in Schiller Park VERY CLOSE to this!!Will never forget it..

[rodney1279]

I was born in 1979 when this happened, in fact I will be 32 on Sunday.

[hmbpnz]

I was a very young boy in Chicago when this happened. If they had only realized that port wing was stalling....gone a little bit faster...this one really bothers me...

[LGLG69]

I was 10 years old when this happened. So very sad.

[luvubug]

i have lived here in Oasis mobile home park for 30 years, there is still a fuel tank in the back of the park, and it is blocked off by fencing, its a really sad thing to remember, my aunt lived in Touhy mobile home park when this happened, she remembers it all, body parts everywhere, plane parts, you name it.. all over. R.I.P everyone who passed in this sad accident.

[rocketride01]

This was a terrible accident. I remember the day well. Part 2 of this coverage would be interesting to see. Even though CNN wasn't around yet,I am sure lots of local coverage still exists?

[1974rail]

if you have time can you put part 2 on

[ChristopherSaindon]

Thank you for this post and let me join

everyone in asking for part 2. Thank You :-)

RIP Rhonda Sue and everyone else who

died that day..

[ChristopherSaindon]

Had a friend on that plane. Captain Lux I'm SURE tried

everything in the few seconds he had and -- perhaps --

at least saved the group of kids that were gathered in

a group right by the impact site.

[ekrewer]

I was in high school when this happened; had just gotten home from the last day of school for the year. Wall to wall coverage for hours.

I think this crash still ranks as the worst U.S. aviation ACCIDENT ever. Only 9/11 was worse, but that, of course, was not an accident.

[96thdayofrage]

I remember this like it happened yesterday! Hurry up with Part II! Great Post!

[mulder1021]

AA cheating at the maintenance facility caused this terrible accident...I found out years later that AA paid out less money to the families then they made on the 25 million dollar insurance policy on the aircraft itself....doesnt make sense huh?

[gtanner918]

Wow..I was about 3 years old living in Arlington Heights and remember seeing the fireball and smoke coming from the southeast when I was in the area of the racetrack. I remember my dad telling me a plane had crashed and hearing something about it on the radio. We flew on a DC10 several times after this going from Chicago to PHX..was nervous to fly on that plane even though I was so young.

[bshrader]

Looking forward to part 2. Does anyone have WMAQ coverage?

[SFConifer]

The cartoon visual at 5:12 is something out of the movie, Airplane

[tommiej3]

@SFConifer yeah what the hell was THAT?!?!?

[TornadoWarning]

R.I.P. This was back when Breaking News was BREAKING NEWS. As a current member of the news media, it's just not the same anymore.

[snorky500]

Thanks for posting, I was watchting this when I got home from school around 3:30PM on May 25th 1979. This is the first time I have seen this since then when it aired live. I had an afterschool job that Friday, and I called in sick. I would have missed the live coverage otherwise. This video is like a nightmare revisited. The year afterward, I took a 747 to the UK. I was scared to get on the thing. Let me know when you get the 2nd vid up! thanks again!!!

[canktm08]

my folks new a passenger on this plane..he was going to a book convention in california..the strange thing is my mother also new a passenger who died on the canary island crash 2 years earlier in 77'

[rocketride01]

I to remember this day very well. I was 11 at the time,and my mother had just picked me up from school. I heard about it on the car radio. No memorial at the site,which is sad in itself. Part 2 would be interesting to see. I am sure lots of local coverage of this accident exists,its just a question of who has it,and to post it.

[tommiej3]

@rocketride01 I recall reading a few years back for the 25th anniversary that a memorial park was being created? Does anyone know what happened that that effort?

[M1903A1]

I was five years old...I remember my mother picking me and my sister up from kindergarten and driving home with the radio blaring information about this day. Then we got home, and I can recall seeing television coverage of the crash site. It made me cringe at the very thought of flying on a DC-10 ever after (even though I later flew on two of them from New York to Paris without incident).

[Gidget5776]

I still get the chills from this. Praying for the families from back then.

[mypalrocco]

Yeah, where is part 2???

[mypalrocco]

Thanks for posting this!

[XFiles1993]

I was born in Chicago in 1983 and through the years my dad would tell me about this crash-Memorial Day weekend, no survivors, an engine just fell off-but this was the first time I've actually seen any footage. Thank you for posting this, however grim it may be.

On a side note, I grew up watching Joel Daly on Eyewitness News, and it was a shock to see him with hair that isn't gray!! :p

[comgeek24]

@XFiles1993 I'm as old as you, and i remember my mom telling me about this over and over again through the years, except she didn't tell me it lost an engine, she just said that it took off, then came down not long after.

[whtsoxfan4ever]

I remember this accident I lived in Chicago a few miles from o'hare so sad for the victims if only the engine would have been installed as per Mcdonald Douglas instead of reattaching it with a forklift this accident could have been avoided

[conewells]

I remember watching this just before leaving to watch ALIEN at the movie theater. It opened that day.

[eastest566]

@conewells really? that's cool. was the movie Alien great because I haven't seen it? :)

[1974rail]

do you have part 2 of this?

[1tbounty]

I was playing on the playground at Angel Town School , in Des Plains, Illinois on May 25th, 1979, in Des Plaines Illinois. It was sunny that day and very warm. I saw this plane shoot over us at about 300ft. The teachers were screaming and crying. I couldn't take my eyes off the plane. Very tragic and very traumatic. To this very day ( 30+ yrs later ) , I don't fly. And the last two days I keep envisioning everything. God Bless those families and those who lost their lives in this crash.

[preo2]

@1tbounty Wow. You actually saw the plane when it was that low? Man that had to be scary!

[aknowneemus]

i can imagine the relatives in L.A waiting for their loved ones to land.

i was in 9th grade in aurora and it was the last week of school.

i also remember this and the photo of the plane sideways the next day in the sun times.

[patmix]

rip

[namor828]

i lived in des plaines at the time was out side and herd the crash and saw the smoke soooo sad.

[dccoulthard]

I remember when this happened. I lived in Hanover Park and we could see the smoke from our house. What a sad day.

[1974rail]

do you have part 2 of the wls tv plane crash ohare?