American Airlines Flight 191 Crash Phone Reports

[swampwatch]

Maybe you should "flash" the telephone quotes a little faster .... it becomes boring waiting in between messages ..... [insert sarcasm] !

[definealways]

Crazy to listen to this and try to imagine what people were seeing and thinking at the time, as well as the stress put on those responding to calls at the local fire department. How often would the dispatcher of a suburban department be taking so many calls about an apparent explosion? I second that there's no reason for criticizing the dispatcher.

[JT041196]

I meant to say the voices of these people who called are chilling. It's very eerie.

[JT041196]

Caller 10 was right actually. It did occur right near 400 West Touhy. The voices of some of these people are chi

[rmachayes]

I have worked the radio for both local police departments as well as state troopers. Believe me, don't criticize the dispatcher. Unless you have worked in emergency communications you have no idea what it can be like.

[nese67]

I was 11 yrs old..May 25th 1979..lived in Schiler Park..VERY CLOSE to the airport...I will NEVER forget this...

[x100al]

I lived in a nearby suburb and was going to drive to Alabama with my then girlfriend for a few days. As we headed out, we saw the smoke near the airport, then heard the radio reports. I still often drive thru this area, and it still gives me the chills to this day...

[tommiej3]

It wasnt until the second caller rigidly told her it was a plane down (and immediately after the first caller to tell her that) that you could tell in her voice that she was thinking "oh sh*t we may have an OHare plane down"

[ChristopherSaindon]

That lady was awesome -- "A BUILDING explosion?!"

No way do you miss a DC10 hitting the earth if you're

near-by. My sister and I could see that smoke from

20+ miles too..

[mypalrocco]

There was 9-1-1 in Chicago at that time, NOT in the suburbs like Elk Grove.

[beatlesguru]

Amazing & chilling. Also a good example of the operator's tunneling; i.e., she's convinced it's a building explosion, even though there's been no evidence to prove it - just the likelihood of that seems greatest. She thus contradicts the first caller who probably observed the plane crash, because that wasn't what happened; she's sure it's not a plane.

[mtvjackass74]

freaky