The plane crashed into a residential neighborhood, destroying five houses; there was an intense ground fire.
Landing Signal Officer Perspective. "I couldn't move, I had hot metal on me. As I am sure you can understand, these actions, particularly with respect to this flight on which Mrs. E. Howard Hunt was killed, have raised innumerable questions in the minds of those with legitimate interests in ascertaining the cause of this accident. Those killed included Dorothy Hunt, wife of Watergate plotter E. Howard Hunt; U.S. Rep. George Collins, who represented a district on the city's West Side; and CBS news correspondent Michelle Clark.Some of the 18 survivors dealt with lifelong injuries, while others escaped relatively unscathed. Dorothy Dubinski was working her shift at A&P; on a cold, drizzly afternoon Dec. 8, 1972, when the foreman told her there had been a terrible accident and offered to drive her home immediately.The twisted wreckage of a plane sat on top of 3722 W. 70th Place where her family's bungalow had stood. It was then that I noticed the Bay waters just below our plane and the pilot hit full throttle and pulled us up from a nasty crash. United Airlines Flight 553 was a scheduled flight from Washington National Airport to Omaha, Nebraska, via Chicago Midway International Airport.
To piggyback on last week’s post, here are some very rare images from the more well known 1972 plane crash near Midway Airport. 3. ""3 area residents reported dead, 4 missing, 7 homes destroyed in crash that killed 45",
If the fire didn't get them, the smoke did. "I lost everything that day, everything. "You had an impeccable pilot ... with one of the best records and highest number of hours," Kent said. It was at 2:29 PM on Friday, December 8, 1972, during the height of the Watergate scandal that United Airlines flight 553 crashed just outside of Chicago during a landing approach to Midway Airport. It was at 2:29 PM on Friday, December 8, 1972, during the height of the Watergate scandal that United Airlines flight 553 crashed just outside of Chicago during a landing approach to Midway Airport.
After the accident, rumors of sabotage swirled around the ill-fated aircraft. I don’t believe there needs to be too much background information given on this incident. If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can A-6A Intruder BuNo. But everyone was changed by the tragedy, one of the worst in Chicago aviation history.Marguerite McCausland, a then-37-year-old flight attendant, recalled that the roofs of the houses in the working-class neighborhood started getting ominously closer and closer. The other flight attendant opened the main entry door and deployed the emergency slide, which did not inflate; she then was pushed out the door, but assisted passengers off the plane from outside the doorway. "Forty years later, the saga of United Flight 553, en route from Washington, D.C., to Chicago to Omaha, Neb., is still painful to family members and survivors. One passenger opened the right overwing door and escaped that way. It has been longstanding FBI policy to immediately proceed to the scene of an airplane crash for the purpose of developing any information indicating a possible Federal violation within the investigative jurisdiction of the FBI. They cut her out of the twisted wreckage, putting a cloth over her face to protect her from sparks. Upon clearing Runway 14L, Flight 954 began taxiing southwest and south toward the terminal, leaving Runway 14L by way of the Bridge Route taxiway.
"With my prayers," she said. From performance studies and simulator tests it was clear that the aircraft was in a high-drag configuration,The final mistake was inappropriate retraction of the flaps, from 30 degrees to 15 degrees, while the plane's airspeed was still too low and the spoilers were still extended. "I cried until I couldn't cry anymore," said Dubinski, now 80. 155705 of VA‑115 as part of CVW‑2 on board the USS Midway (CVA-41). Fifteen people aboard Flight 575 suffered non-fatal injuries.The National Transportation Safety Board released its report on the accident on July 5, 1973.
There are just a lot more questions than answers. She plans to mark the 40th anniversary of the crash as she always does.
Conditions at the airport were foggy, with a visibility of about one-quarter mile (0.4 km). Included among those who have asked questions, for example, is the Government Activities Subcommittee of the House Government Operations Committee.FBI has primary investigative jurisdiction in connection with the Destruction of Aircraft or Motor Vehicles (DAMV) Statute, Title 18, Section 32, U.S. Code, which pertains to the willful damaging, destroying or disabling of any civil aircraft in interstate, overseas or foreign air commerce. Dorothy Hunt was carrying $10,000 in cash on the flight, rumored to be a payoff for the Watergate burglars, according to news accounts.The presence on the plane of Clark, the CBS journalist, only stoked allegations of foul play by some who believed she was about to expose the White House's involvement in the scandal that eventually drove President Richard Nixon from office.Even today, some don't believe the NTSB's conclusions about the crash.David Kent, a co-founder of a group called Midway Historians, is skeptical for a number of reasons, including the experience of the crew.
Later, she flew back to a medical facility closer to home, where she would spend three months.Harold Metcalf, a 34-year-old federal narcotics agent and a passenger aboard Flight 553, rarely talked about the event, according to his widow, Judith.
We went directly to an inland Air Force base and were bused in to the base from there. The crew opened the four emergency doors and deployed the emergency slides, and all aboard the plane were successfully evacuated in about five minutes without further incident.After the DC-9 came to rest on Runway 32L, a fire broke out in the aft part of the plane, the cabin rapidly filled with smoke, and interior illumination in the passenger cabin was poor. Finally, one of the firefighters called, "Someone is alive here!"