When you travel on airlines you will recall that there is always an announcement after takeoff “The seat belt sign has been turned off. However we request you keep your seat
belt loosely fastened while in your seat” I was on the flight where that rule originated and it was quite an exciting experience. I thought I should get it written down while I can still remember it.
We were living in Nanuet and I was working for a chemical company in NYC at the time. They had just opened a subsidiary in Mexico City
The flight to Mexico City Houston Houston Mexico City
The seat belt sign was turned off at about 10,000 feet. We were climbing through 25,000 feet when it happened. A component in the tail assembly called the pitch trim compensator malfunctioned and threw the plane into a steep climb. French couldn’t see the horizon so he was not immediately aware of what was happening. It was such a steep climb that the plane quickly stalled and nosed over into free fall. I had kept my seat belt fastened (about half did and half didn’t) I will guess that there were about 100 aboard and when the nose began to fall, those unfastened made an astonishing sight as they floated gently up to the ceiling. When they reached the ceiling they were pasted there and they stayed there for the next 20,000 feet.
I was seated by the window just behind the port-side engines. It didn’t take long to know what was happening. There was a rapid build-up of the shrill power-dive shriek that said we were in trouble. I watched the engines and saw a round component sliding back over them.These were the thrust reversers. I read later that we had reached a speed of 800 miles an hour going down and if French had not immediately activated the thrust reversers we would have been smeared all over Texas. As it was we only missed it by 6 seconds. I also read later that French wrote the book on the way down. I’m glad he was a quick study.
The 20,000 foot power dive, I think, took about 20-30 seconds. In those circumstances one must consider the possibility that things may not work out. Jeff had just been born and Grace would be left with five young children to raise. It is said that in high stress situations people are capable of unusual accomplishment. I proved that to myself. After the usual regrets, I calculated our net worth. I needed to know how much they would have to get by. It was not a large net worth but it was reasonably complicated.
I started with the allowable settlement from the airline. It was printed on the ticket that under the Warsaw Convention on international flights the limit of liability for the Airline was $7,189. I added insurance from my employer and doubled it for accidental death. I added in the vested portion of the pension plan and a small veteran life insurance. The equity in the house was tricky. I had to appraise the value and calculate the amount of the mortgage after the last payment. Add in our savings and checking accounts and that was about it. I did it later with a desk calculator and it took about half an hour, but I came within $10 of what I had calculated on the way down.
By the time I had done my bookkeeping, we had reached 6,000 feet and the thrust reversers had slowed us down and French managed to pull it out into level flight. There was a snap and a lurch as we came out which signaled the tearing away of the port inboard engine. It struck the tail assembly as it went by, causing unknown damage. As we pulled out, those passengers on the ceiling came crashing down on the deck and the seats. There were a lot of injuries from that, including I think 18 broken bones. Some of the broken bones belonged to the flight attendants, but they continued with their duties. They were spunky women. There was some screaming and moaning from the injured but not much. I have seen the comment often that behavior in airplane emergencies is very restrained. That was certainly true here. There was no screaming or hysteria; except for the injured. We just sat back and waited. I’m sure everyone was terrified, but there was nothing that they could do so we just sat.
There was silence from the flight deck for a while but then French came on “Well folks I think we have things under control now here on the flight deck. We will have to return to Barksdale Air Force Base to land on their extra long runway. We will also need to circle
and dump most of our fuel. I will keep you advised” As he said this French had to deal with a lot of unknowns: How much damage to the tail assembly; how to steer and fly on three engines and a damaged tail; was the air frame twisted out of shape; would the wheels come down; could he stop the plane on the runway with only two engines in reverse and brakes that would surely burn out? However he sounded cheerful and that’s all we could ask of him.
I don’t think it took too long to get back to the vicinity of Barksdale. As we circled to dump the fuel an Air Force jet fighter came up and flew close under the port wing. An observer in the back seat with binoculars reported what he could see of the condition of the exterior of the plane and the stump of the departed engine. It was comforting to know that the Air Force was on the case. We could see below that ambulances and crash vehicles were stretched all along the runway.
After what seemed forever French came back to us. “OK folks we have finished dumping the fuel and Barksdale is ready for us. We’re going in now. Cabin crew prepare for an emergency landing” I forget what all the preparations were but I think shoes off and head between the knees was part of it. You may have heard the phrase “full flaps” The flaps are on the trailing edge of the wing and are normally extended 20-30 degrees down to slow the plane in its approach. These were the fullest flaps I have ever seen. They were extended down to a full right angle to the wing. It looked like the wing was coming apart.
But we still flew on—no wheels yet. Then we heard the grinding noise as the undercarriage deployed and then the satisfying “thunk” as the wheels locked in place.
The landscape began to flash by and then the head of the runway---it was now time for head between the knees. With benefit of the full flaps and his own exceptional skill, Capt French brought us down to the gentlest, smoothest landing I have ever experienced. We could barely feel the wheels touching down. He immediately shut down one of the starboard engines and put the remaining two in full reverse thrust. At first- nothing, but soon we could feel the plane slowing and then there erupted the most enthusiastic cheering and clapping that I have ever heard and it went on for some time.
He stopped the plane on the runway and we were immediately surrounded by Air Force vehicles. The medics came aboard and tended to the injured and carried them to the ambulances. The rest of us filed out and shook hands with French and Kirby. French was completely composed as if he had just made a routine landing. Kirby however looked as if someone had thrown a pail of water over him. He was soaked in perspiration.
The Air Force treated us royally. They opened the Officers Club bar and dining room to us and made telephones available. I tried to call Grace but she was not in so I called our next door neighbors, the Blackman’s, to get the word that I was OK Eastern Airlines emergency crews arrived shortly and made room arrangements for us and Air Force people took us in their cars to the motels. I discovered a fellow that worked in the floor below in New York
The next day Eastern made a special flight available to us to Mexico City
There are some sequels to this:
-Three months later on Feb 24 1964 the same flight, but a different DC 8, had the same accident. There was a different pilot but Kirby was the co-pilot. This time they could not pull out and they crashed into Lake Pontchetrain
-For several years I flew, comforted by the statistical improbability of being in two airplane accidents. However I made the mistake of telling this to a statistician who corrected me “You have the same probability of being in an accident as every one else aboard. The plane doesn’t know that you have already been in an accident” I guess Kirby’s fate proved that out.
-Later in November, airlines adopted the rule about keeping seat belts fastened.
The passengers and crew of DC 8 #N8603 had made the point.
