The Terrifying, Deadly Plane Crash In Illinois That Will Never Be Forgotten
By Linze Rice|Published April 19, 2023
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Linze Rice
Author
Ope! From the rural cornfields of DeKalb County, Linze is an Illinois native and true Midwestern gal who can make a mean bonfire and whip up a perfect marshmallow salad. Since 2014, her bylines and photography have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine, Chicago Sun-Times, and Block Club Chicago/DNAinfo Chicago, Only in Your State, and more. She has interviewed Dolly Parton, written about beloved diners along historic Route 66, visited the last Rainforest Cafe in the Illinois, and reviewed luxurious English manor-inspired hotels. Whether it's writing about a local gem or world-renowned establishment, Linze brings a heartwarming and historical perspective to each story, using facts, wit, and personal experience to impress upon readers the importance of culture, food, travel, and all things local. Her favorite destinations in Illinois include Starved Rock State Park, Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood, the charming small town of Sycamore, and historic Rosehill Cemetery. When she's not writing or photographing, Linze enjoys gardening, spending time with her husband and pets, cooking, baking, and grilling, and relaxing with trashy TV.
Flying is one of the safest modes of transportation, much safer than a car. Yet, about 25 million people living in the United States identify as having aerophobia — aka a fear of flying. The odds of someone flying in America experiencing a crash is about 1 in 11 million, compared to 1 in 5,000 with motor vehicles. Even if you do crash, experts say you still have a pretty good chance of surviving. However, this unfortunately isn’t always the case, and there are those rare crashes that shake the world to its core. One of those was the deadliest plane crash in American history, which happened in Chicago, Illinois.
O'Hare International Airport in Chicago is one of the busiest airports in the country. And on May 25, 1979, it made history as the site of the nation's deadliest plane crash to date.
That day, 258 passengers and 13 crew boarded the 7-year-old McDonnell Douglas DC-10 headed for Los Angeles. But less than a minute after takeoff they would all perish, along with two people on the ground.
As the plane was taking off, its left engine and the mechanism that attached the engine to the wing separated from the plane, leaving a massive 3-foot gash. The hole caused critical electrical systems to fail and allowed hydraulic fluid to leak out, both of which were needed for the pilot's instruments to function. Just 350 feet off the ground, the plane entered a steep bank — a moment that was famously caught on camera by a Canadian citizen who happened to be on the airport's observation deck.
Investigators eventually determined that a domino effect that began with maintenance procedures caused the crash. It was discovered that maintenance workers had taken a shortcut approved by American Airlines when detatching and reattaching the engine's pylon (the piece that connects the engine and the wing). This change in procedure, which was different that the recommendations of the plane manufacturer, caused the engine to become loose and fall off during takeoff — therefore heavily limiting the plane's abilities to fly.
Once the engine came off, the plane had very limited options. It was too low to the ground for the pilots to have much leeway for a backup plan, and their flight instruments had lost much of their function. The imbalance of losing the engine and the plane's proximity to the ground almost certainly meant the plane would roll and quickly hit the ground.
The loss of life had a devastating effect on Chicago, the aviation industry as a whole, and all those who lost loved ones in the crash. After 32 years, in 2011 a brick memorial wall and placard was dedicated in the suburb of Des Plaines near the airport, about 2 miles from the site of the crash. Thirty victims' remains have still never been identified.
Despite the significant crash, O’Hare International Airport continues to operate as a busy hub in the Midwest and has undergone many expansions and upgrades over the years. Did you know that Flight 191 was the deadliest plane crash in American history? Do you have a personal connection to the story? Share it with us in the comments.
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