Compassion in times of tragedy

A touching of story of human spirit in times of a tragedy!

The crash landing of United Airlines flight 232 at Sioux City airport in 1989 is considered a textbook example of superior piloting skills and Crew Resource Management (CRM). The airliner lost all three of its hydraulic systems which resulted in the loss of all flight controls required to steer an airplane. Captain Alfred Haynes and Capt.Dennis Fitch drew on all their skill and experience to steer the crippled aircraft to the nearest runway only using differential power in the engines. Though they managed to reach the runway, the aircraft cartwheeled on landing and burst into flames. Of the total 296 on board 112 lost their lives but 184 survived miraculously. 

The cause of the total hydraulic failure was a fan disc which sheared off from the rear engine, in the process severing all hydraulic lines. The fan disc from the engine mounted on the tail had literally spun out of its mounting, taking the hydraulics with it. The investigators had to find the disc. But this was not an easy task as the plane had been at 37,000 feet and the disc could have landed over a wide area, and that area was part of the biggest corn belt in the world, stretching over a million acres. After searching with infrared cameras in vain, General Electric (GE) the manufacturer of the engine announced a reward of 1,20,000 US dollars for anyone who would locate the disk.

The disc was found by Janice Sorenson who was harvesting corn in her field, three months after the accident. She was awarded the prize money. Both she and her husband Dale were simple folks of modest means. They could not even imagine this kind of money. Her first reaction on hearing about the prize money was, “I can manage 20,000, but this?”. 
After paying $22,000 in taxes they repaid a pending debt. And in a remarkable display of humanity they gave the rest to charity - to the Mercy Medical Center and St.Luke Medical Center who had provided medical assistance to the victims of the crash, and to a children’s health clinic and the Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation. 

 A real life story of goodness against tragic background! 

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