August 31, 2025 • 20 mins
The sky was clear on May 25, 1979, as American Airlines Flight 191 accelerated down the runway at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Seconds after liftoff, the unthinkable happened—the left engine tore free from the wing, flipping over the top before crashing onto the runway. What followed was a desperate 31-second battle as the pilots fought to control an aircraft that was rapidly becoming uncontrollable.
This catastrophic failure, claiming 273 lives, wasn't just bad luck. It was the culmination of dangerous maintenance shortcuts and overlooked design vulnerabilities that turned what should have been a survivable emergency into one of America's deadliest aviation disasters. American Airlines, along with several other carriers, had developed a money-saving maintenance procedure using forklifts to remove entire engine assemblies—a practice never approved by the manufacturer that damaged critical components over time.
The investigation revealed multiple shocking findings: hydraulic lines severed during the engine separation, warning systems that went silent precisely when needed most, and eight other DC-10s flying with similar damage. Most tragically, the pilots followed their training perfectly but were doomed by circumstances they couldn't possibly understand in those final moments.
Beyond the human toll, Flight 191 permanently altered aviation safety regulations and maintenance protocols. The McDonnell Douglas DC-10, once the pride of American aviation, never fully recovered its reputation despite subsequent design improvements that made it statistically one of the safest aircraft in the sky. Some still fly today in specialized roles—from firefighting to a flying eye hospital helping prevent blindness in developing countries.
Listen now to understand how this preventable tragedy unfolded, what changes it sparked, and why the lessons of Flight 191 remain critically relevant in today's aviation industry where the pressure to cut costs still battles with the mandate for absolute safety.
Facebook: historyisadisaster
Instagram: historysadisaster
email: historysadisaster@gmail.com
Special thank you to Lunarfall Audio for producing and doing all the heavy lifting on audio editing since April 13, 2025, the Murder of Christopher Meyer episode https://lunarfallaudio.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Despite having a slight fear of heights, I love
flying.
I love looking out the windowsand watching the ground shrink
away during takeoff and lookingout over whatever city I'm
flying into on landing.
Not so much a fan of lookingout and seeing nothing but
clouds, that's just a littleunnerving, especially during
(00:21):
turbulence.
But hey, at least we made itoff the ground, which is more
than could be said for AmericanAirlines Flight 191.
They barely made it over 300feet in the air and traveled
less than a mile before theplane flipped on its side and
came crashing down.
So what happened?
(00:42):
I'm Andrew and this isHistory's A Disaster.
Tonight we are taking a lookinto the American Airlines
Flight 191 crash.
I wanted to say taking a divethere, but the plane already did
(01:02):
that.
And tonight's episode isbrought to you by Shaky Rick's
Forklift Rentals.
If you need it forked or lifted, they got the forklift for you.
Don't let your job stall out.
Call Shaky Rick's today.
On Friday, may 25th 1979, theday before Memorial Day weekend
(01:27):
and the airport is packed.
People are flying across thecountry to celebrate the long
weekend.
On American Airlines flight 191, captain Walter Lux was
supposed to be off but decidedto work to help a buddy out and
let him have the holiday off.
So he took his flight fromO'Hare Airport in Chicago,
(01:50):
heading to Los Angeles.
It would be the worst mistakeof his life.
Captain Lux, along withco-pilot First Officer James
Dillard, both of them highlyexperienced and familiar with
the aircraft, would be pilotingthe McDonnell Douglas DC-10.
Being one of the first jumbojets, it was extremely popular
(02:12):
with the airlines.
It's distinctive three enginedesign also made it one of the
most recognizable on the tarmac.
I'm sure it also was a littlecheaper to fly with three
engines versus the four enginesof other jumbo jets, but that's
a whole other story.
They would be flying out ofO'Hare with a full plane of 258
(02:35):
passengers and a total of 13crew members.
During the flight, the airlinewas also trying out something
new.
They had a camera installed inthe cockpit looking out the
windows.
The camera pumped in a livefeed to a screen in the cabin so
the passengers could watch andsee what the pilot sees during
(02:55):
takeoff and landings Kind oflike an airline dash cam.
At around 3.04 in the afternoonthe plane started accelerating
to takeoff speed Within secondsof hitting rotational speed the
speed at which lift begins andthe nose of the plane lifts off,
the plane shakes withturbulence.
(03:16):
As they start to climb, theylose power to the number one
engine on the left wing of theplane.
Captain Lux's instrument panelgoes dead.
He's flying blind, believingthey had just lost power to the
engine.
The DC-10 is perfectly capableof flying with only two engines.
They just needed to rely ontheir training.
(03:38):
Training at this time says,with the loss of one engine
during takeoff, to climb, get asfar away from the ground as
possible, and that's what theydid.
They pushed the nose higher,increasing their ascent and
clawing desperately for everyfoot of altitude.
As they climbed, their airspeeddropped.
(03:59):
With airspeed lowering, theleft wing dipped towards the
ground.
Captain Lux and Dillard foughtthe plane, applying full power
to the right ailerons to bringthe plane back level.
They were barely over 300 feetin the air as they fought the
(04:20):
plane, unsuccessfully.
The left wing continued to dipuntil the plane was flying
completely sideways.
The passengers were terrifiedand had to watch helplessly as
the image on the screen showedthe plane tilting towards the
ground, a hangar near the end ofthe runway growing larger on
screen as the ground rushed upto meet them.
(04:42):
The left wing struck the groundfirst, slamming the nose down.
The fuel tanks were full and anexplosion and fire started as
soon as the plane hit.
Fiery debris was spread acrossthe tarmac.
Some of it was launched farenough away to set a trailer
ablaze in a large trailer parkthat lay just beyond the airport
(05:07):
.
Firefighters and rescue crewswere on scene quickly.
They managed to get the firesout.
Smoke and the smell of jet fuelhung in the air.
There was hardly anythingrecognizable as an airplane left
, a landing gear strut here andan engine over there.
What was horrifyinglyrecognizable was the bodies and
(05:30):
body parts spread through thedebris.
As they searched through thedebris, desperately looking for
survivors, they would find none.
273 people were killed in thecrash 271 from the plane and two
workers in the hangar died whenthe plane hit the ground.
(05:52):
The NTSB was on hand quickly andan immediate investigation was
launched.
During the beginning of theinvestigation, the plane's
number one engine was found2,000 feet before the end of the
runway.
A broken bolt was found furtherdown, which led the
(06:12):
investigators to believe thebolt was the first thing to fall
from the plane and the likelycause of the accident, and that
was what they released to thepress during a press conference
just two days after the crash.
They should have waited.
When the metal expert, michaelMarks, looked at the bolt and
(06:37):
examined it, he found no signsof stressing and cracking, so he
told them nope, guess again.
Most likely the bolt brokeduring the accident.
So they were left with nothingto do but dig deeper.
They were facing immensepressure to get this
investigation done not onlyright, but right now.
(06:59):
They had to find the reason forthe crash.
The plane should have been ableto fly with the engine missing
Within just a few days of theaccident.
The FAA ordered all DC-10sgrounded and no international
flights involving DC-10s wouldbe allowed into the country,
(07:21):
which left the airlines with 138of their planes grounded and
losing money daily.
The investigators would go onto recover the badly damaged
black boxes from the debris,which ended up being not much
help in the investigation, whichended up being not much help in
the investigation.
The boxes were powered by thenumber one engine, so when it
(07:43):
went out, they quit recording.
During an examination of someof the wreckage, michael Marks
came across a broken piece ofthe pylon.
Now the pylon is the piece thathangs under the wing and is
strong enough to attach the10,000 pound engine to the wing
of the plane.
These pylons are incrediblystrong and can withstand more of
(08:06):
a load than an engine wouldplace on it during its lifespan.
So finding a piece that wasbroken the way it was threw up
red flags for the investigators.
The next step check themaintenance logs and according
to the logs, the left engine hadjust been removed for service,
(08:28):
8 weeks prior to the accident.
So they now had to pay a visitto the maintenance crew and
check up on procedures and shitlike that.
And they got there just in timeto watch them reattach the
engine to the wing with aforklift, which isn't really the
fucked up part, because how thehell else you gonna get a
(08:49):
10,000 pound engine up there.
No, what was fucked up was theyweren't following McDonnell
Douglas established procedureson the removal and replacement
of the engine.
According to establishedprocedures, they are supposed to
remove the engine from thepylon, which means pulling off
hatches and unbolting everything, and there was hundreds of
(09:13):
bolts in there and cramped andhard to get places before being
able to lower the engine.
It was a slow andlabor-intensive process, taking
around 24 hours for a singleengine removal.
Well, american Airlines andseveral others didn't really
like that too much, so theyfound a faster workaround for
(09:34):
that.
The pylon was attached to thewing by three large bolts.
So they put a forklift underthe wing and just removed the
engine and pylon as one wholeunit, making it a hell of a lot
quicker.
They saved hundreds of man,hours and labor doing it this
way.
Now, taking them down Not thereal problem, putting them back
(09:59):
up is If you've ever driven aforklift and tried to put
anything in a specific area, youknow forklifts aren't exactly a
precision instrument andthey're using them to try to put
the pylons back on with hardlyany margin for error.
And that shit's not going tohappen on the first try, or at
least not very often Things aregonna get banged around, dented
(10:23):
and broken, and that's whathappened on flight 191.
After finding the rest of thepylon pieces and examining them,
they found an indentation theybelieved came from using the
forklift to put it back on.
(10:44):
This dent led to a crack in thepylon and during the eight
weeks of flying around the crackkept getting bigger and bigger
until the pylon eventuallyfailed completely, causing the
engine to come loose and flipover the wing and fly off.
It was designed to do thislittle flip over the wing thing.
(11:06):
It's to keep it from flyinginto the tail of the plane and
cause more damage in situationslike this.
So now they know pretty much whythe engine came off, but that
still doesn't really explain thecrash, since once again the
plane should have been able tofly with two engines and the
(11:27):
wreckage wasn't helping them outat all.
It was not revealing any moreclues and they were getting
desperate for answers.
Fortunately, one of theinvestigators happened to look
at a newspaper.
There's a very famous photofrom right before the crash
showing the plane flyingcompletely sideways.
(11:48):
But as the investigator lookedat it, he happened to see
something funny in the pictureand put out a request for
original copies of the photo.
They had the photos blown up tolook at the wings, to see if
maybe the pilots fucked up andthe ailerons were out of
position.
They were not.
They did see, however, whatlooked like hydraulic fluid
(12:12):
spraying from the left wing, andif the plane lost hydraulics,
that would explain why theycouldn't control it.
When they checked the plane'sdiagrams, they found the
hydraulic lines ran right wherethe wing was ripped open.
When the engine went, it hadtaken sections of the hydraulic
line with it, and when thehydraulics went out, the wing
(12:34):
slat retracted, and these wingslats are absolutely critical to
flying the plane at low speeds,like during takeoff.
When they're extended theychange the shape of the wing and
create more lift during slowspeeds.
But with the slats retracted,it changed the stall speed of
the plane from 124 knots to 159,which is a huge, significant
(13:01):
difference.
Now they had a workinghypothesis.
They just needed to test it,and for that they need a flight
simulator and a pilot to testthe conditions.
As the pilot put the simulatorin the air, the left engine and
hydraulics were cut to simulatethe conditions of flight 191.
(13:22):
When the left wing started tostall out, a warning system
violently shook the controlstick to warn of a stall.
The system was mostappropriately called the stick
shaker.
During a potential stall, thecorrect response to it is to
lower the nose and increasepower to the engine.
(13:43):
This will allow the plane tofly out of it by increasing
airspeed, and that's exactlywhat the pilot and the sim did,
and he successfully pulled theplane out of the stall and saved
it.
So now it was back to thedrawing board for the
investigators, and that's whenthey found another serious
(14:03):
design flaw in the plane.
Every single warning system inthe plane was powered by the
number one engine.
So when it went away, not onlydid it fuck up the hydraulics,
but it fucked up electricalsystems too, which would have
(14:25):
led to the loss of instrumentsin the cockpit.
It was determined that at thetime, the flight crew would not
have known they were stalling,and back to the simulator they
went, this time with a new pilotbehind the stick and unknown to
the pilot.
All warning systems weredisabled.
(14:46):
This time, when they went intotakeoff without the stall
warning, the pilot assumed theyhad just lost power to the
engine and followed the properprocedure for what to do when an
engine is lost during takeoff,and that is to put the plane
into a climb and get away fromthe ground, which means pointing
(15:07):
the nose up and reducing speedto the minimum safe flying speed
the exact opposite of what youwant to happen in a stall.
This just made everything worseand caused the simulator to
roll on its side, dooming theflight.
With this, the NTSB concludedthe pilots were not at fault for
(15:28):
the crash.
However, the FAA was partiallyto blame for not enforcing
correct procedures, as well asAmerican Airlines for their
fucked up maintenance practices.
The FAA would go on to issue amandate that shake stickers be
installed on both pilot controlcolumns, not just one, which
(15:50):
just seems like common sense tome.
But whatever, I'm not anaerospace engineer.
The DC-10 would go through somedesign changes as well.
The electrical systems were nowrequired to be powered by more
than one engine in case of afailure, and the hydraulic lines
in the wings had special plugsput in them to prevent slats and
(16:12):
other control surfaces fromretracting if the lines were cut
.
And it's a shame the entirehydraulic system wasn't
completely redesigned.
This could have potentiallyavoided the crash of United
Airlines Flight 232 10 yearslater.
Had they done that and I did awhole episode on that crash.
If you haven't listened to ityet, it's in the feed.
(16:34):
American Airlines also decidedafter this that maybe putting a
camera in the cockpit wasn'tsuch a good idea, so they
discontinued it.
Also, during the grounding ofevery DC-10, they were all
inspected and 8 out of 138 inservice were found to have
(16:59):
similar damage to the pylon asflight 191 had.
So it was just a matter of timebefore this happened.
The crash would also go on tohave an extremely negative
effect on public perception ofthe DC-10.
This was the third major crashin the last five years.
The first two crashes werecaused by a faulty cargo door
(17:22):
opening during flight, causingthe cabin to experience
explosive decompression that ledto the crashes and the loss of
hundreds of lives.
So people were afraid to fly inthem and often canceled or
switched flights to not have togo on one.
By 1983, mcdonnell Douglasannounced that, due to the lack
(17:44):
of orders, production on theDC-10s would be stopped and
production would eventually cometo an end in 1989.
And despite public perceptions,after numerous redesigns the
DC-10 would have a long safetyrecord, just as good, if not
better, than similarly sizedplanes, and it was a good thing
(18:08):
McDonnell Douglas got theseredesigns in place.
In 1997, mcdonnell Douglas wasbought out by Boeing, and I
think we all know they don'texactly have the greatest track
record in keeping planes in theair right now.
Anyways, the DC-10 would remainin service before being retired
(18:29):
from the airlines in 2014.
However, there is still 10 ofthem still in service.
Four of them are being used ina firefighting role, as aerial
tankers, two are being used toconduct aerial refueling, three
of them are being used as cargoplanes and the last one was
(18:50):
heavily modified and serves as afully functioning teaching
hospital specializing in eyesurgery, and both
state-of-the-art teachingfacilities, including a
classroom, operating room andrecovery room.
Orbis International, the ownerof the modified DC-10, has been
in over 80 countries helping toimprove eye care and prevent
(19:15):
avoidable blindness since FedExdonated the plane in 1982.
Since FedEx donated the planein 1982.
And that was the crash ofAmerican Airlines Flight 191.
Thanks for listening and if youliked the show, please consider
leaving a rating or review onyour app of choice, and you can
(19:40):
reach out to the show athistoriesofdisaster at gmailcom
with questions, comments orsuggestions, as well as
following the show on socialmedia like Facebook or Instagram
and a few others, tiktok andYouTube and whatever.
Think I've got a Tumblr now tooand share the episode.
Your friends will love it andtake care of yourself out there.
(20:02):
Chase that dream.
Live for today, becausetomorrow is never guaranteed.
Thanks and goodbye.
Despite having a slight fear of heights, I love
flying.
I love looking out the windowsand watching the ground shrink
away during takeoff and lookingout over whatever city I'm
flying into on landing.
Not so much a fan of lookingout and seeing nothing but
clouds, that's just a littleunnerving, especially during
(00:21):
turbulence.
But hey, at least we made itoff the ground, which is more
than could be said for AmericanAirlines Flight 191.
They barely made it over 300feet in the air and traveled
less than a mile before theplane flipped on its side and
came crashing down.
So what happened?
(00:42):
I'm Andrew and this isHistory's A Disaster.
Tonight we are taking a lookinto the American Airlines
Flight 191 crash.
I wanted to say taking a divethere, but the plane already did
(01:02):
that.
And tonight's episode isbrought to you by Shaky Rick's
Forklift Rentals.
If you need it forked or lifted, they got the forklift for you.
Don't let your job stall out.
Call Shaky Rick's today.
On Friday, may 25th 1979, theday before Memorial Day weekend
(01:27):
and the airport is packed.
People are flying across thecountry to celebrate the long
weekend.
On American Airlines flight 191, captain Walter Lux was
supposed to be off but decidedto work to help a buddy out and
let him have the holiday off.
So he took his flight fromO'Hare Airport in Chicago,
(01:50):
heading to Los Angeles.
It would be the worst mistakeof his life.
Captain Lux, along withco-pilot First Officer James
Dillard, both of them highlyexperienced and familiar with
the aircraft, would be pilotingthe McDonnell Douglas DC-10.
Being one of the first jumbojets, it was extremely popular
(02:12):
with the airlines.
It's distinctive three enginedesign also made it one of the
most recognizable on the tarmac.
I'm sure it also was a littlecheaper to fly with three
engines versus the four enginesof other jumbo jets, but that's
a whole other story.
They would be flying out ofO'Hare with a full plane of 258
(02:35):
passengers and a total of 13crew members.
During the flight, the airlinewas also trying out something
new.
They had a camera installed inthe cockpit looking out the
windows.
The camera pumped in a livefeed to a screen in the cabin so
the passengers could watch andsee what the pilot sees during
(02:55):
takeoff and landings Kind oflike an airline dash cam.
At around 3.04 in the afternoonthe plane started accelerating
to takeoff speed Within secondsof hitting rotational speed the
speed at which lift begins andthe nose of the plane lifts off,
the plane shakes withturbulence.
(03:16):
As they start to climb, theylose power to the number one
engine on the left wing of theplane.
Captain Lux's instrument panelgoes dead.
He's flying blind, believingthey had just lost power to the
engine.
The DC-10 is perfectly capableof flying with only two engines.
They just needed to rely ontheir training.
(03:38):
Training at this time says,with the loss of one engine
during takeoff, to climb, get asfar away from the ground as
possible, and that's what theydid.
They pushed the nose higher,increasing their ascent and
clawing desperately for everyfoot of altitude.
As they climbed, their airspeeddropped.
(03:59):
With airspeed lowering, theleft wing dipped towards the
ground.
Captain Lux and Dillard foughtthe plane, applying full power
to the right ailerons to bringthe plane back level.
They were barely over 300 feetin the air as they fought the
(04:20):
plane, unsuccessfully.
The left wing continued to dipuntil the plane was flying
completely sideways.
The passengers were terrifiedand had to watch helplessly as
the image on the screen showedthe plane tilting towards the
ground, a hangar near the end ofthe runway growing larger on
screen as the ground rushed upto meet them.
(04:42):
The left wing struck the groundfirst, slamming the nose down.
The fuel tanks were full and anexplosion and fire started as
soon as the plane hit.
Fiery debris was spread acrossthe tarmac.
Some of it was launched farenough away to set a trailer
ablaze in a large trailer parkthat lay just beyond the airport
(05:07):
.
Firefighters and rescue crewswere on scene quickly.
They managed to get the firesout.
Smoke and the smell of jet fuelhung in the air.
There was hardly anythingrecognizable as an airplane left
, a landing gear strut here andan engine over there.
What was horrifyinglyrecognizable was the bodies and
(05:30):
body parts spread through thedebris.
As they searched through thedebris, desperately looking for
survivors, they would find none.
273 people were killed in thecrash 271 from the plane and two
workers in the hangar died whenthe plane hit the ground.
(05:52):
The NTSB was on hand quickly andan immediate investigation was
launched.
During the beginning of theinvestigation, the plane's
number one engine was found2,000 feet before the end of the
runway.
A broken bolt was found furtherdown, which led the
(06:12):
investigators to believe thebolt was the first thing to fall
from the plane and the likelycause of the accident, and that
was what they released to thepress during a press conference
just two days after the crash.
They should have waited.
When the metal expert, michaelMarks, looked at the bolt and
(06:37):
examined it, he found no signsof stressing and cracking, so he
told them nope, guess again.
Most likely the bolt brokeduring the accident.
So they were left with nothingto do but dig deeper.
They were facing immensepressure to get this
investigation done not onlyright, but right now.
(06:59):
They had to find the reason forthe crash.
The plane should have been ableto fly with the engine missing
Within just a few days of theaccident.
The FAA ordered all DC-10sgrounded and no international
flights involving DC-10s wouldbe allowed into the country,
(07:21):
which left the airlines with 138of their planes grounded and
losing money daily.
The investigators would go onto recover the badly damaged
black boxes from the debris,which ended up being not much
help in the investigation, whichended up being not much help in
the investigation.
The boxes were powered by thenumber one engine, so when it
(07:43):
went out, they quit recording.
During an examination of someof the wreckage, michael Marks
came across a broken piece ofthe pylon.
Now the pylon is the piece thathangs under the wing and is
strong enough to attach the10,000 pound engine to the wing
of the plane.
These pylons are incrediblystrong and can withstand more of
(08:06):
a load than an engine wouldplace on it during its lifespan.
So finding a piece that wasbroken the way it was threw up
red flags for the investigators.
The next step check themaintenance logs and according
to the logs, the left engine hadjust been removed for service,
(08:28):
8 weeks prior to the accident.
So they now had to pay a visitto the maintenance crew and
check up on procedures and shitlike that.
And they got there just in timeto watch them reattach the
engine to the wing with aforklift, which isn't really the
fucked up part, because how thehell else you gonna get a
(08:49):
10,000 pound engine up there.
No, what was fucked up was theyweren't following McDonnell
Douglas established procedureson the removal and replacement
of the engine.
According to establishedprocedures, they are supposed to
remove the engine from thepylon, which means pulling off
hatches and unbolting everything, and there was hundreds of
(09:13):
bolts in there and cramped andhard to get places before being
able to lower the engine.
It was a slow andlabor-intensive process, taking
around 24 hours for a singleengine removal.
Well, american Airlines andseveral others didn't really
like that too much, so theyfound a faster workaround for
(09:34):
that.
The pylon was attached to thewing by three large bolts.
So they put a forklift underthe wing and just removed the
engine and pylon as one wholeunit, making it a hell of a lot
quicker.
They saved hundreds of man,hours and labor doing it this
way.
Now, taking them down Not thereal problem, putting them back
(09:59):
up is If you've ever driven aforklift and tried to put
anything in a specific area, youknow forklifts aren't exactly a
precision instrument andthey're using them to try to put
the pylons back on with hardlyany margin for error.
And that shit's not going tohappen on the first try, or at
least not very often Things aregonna get banged around, dented
(10:23):
and broken, and that's whathappened on flight 191.
After finding the rest of thepylon pieces and examining them,
they found an indentation theybelieved came from using the
forklift to put it back on.
(10:44):
This dent led to a crack in thepylon and during the eight
weeks of flying around the crackkept getting bigger and bigger
until the pylon eventuallyfailed completely, causing the
engine to come loose and flipover the wing and fly off.
It was designed to do thislittle flip over the wing thing.
(11:06):
It's to keep it from flyinginto the tail of the plane and
cause more damage in situationslike this.
So now they know pretty much whythe engine came off, but that
still doesn't really explain thecrash, since once again the
plane should have been able tofly with two engines and the
(11:27):
wreckage wasn't helping them outat all.
It was not revealing any moreclues and they were getting
desperate for answers.
Fortunately, one of theinvestigators happened to look
at a newspaper.
There's a very famous photofrom right before the crash
showing the plane flyingcompletely sideways.
(11:48):
But as the investigator lookedat it, he happened to see
something funny in the pictureand put out a request for
original copies of the photo.
They had the photos blown up tolook at the wings, to see if
maybe the pilots fucked up andthe ailerons were out of
position.
They were not.
They did see, however, whatlooked like hydraulic fluid
(12:12):
spraying from the left wing, andif the plane lost hydraulics,
that would explain why theycouldn't control it.
When they checked the plane'sdiagrams, they found the
hydraulic lines ran right wherethe wing was ripped open.
When the engine went, it hadtaken sections of the hydraulic
line with it, and when thehydraulics went out, the wing
(12:34):
slat retracted, and these wingslats are absolutely critical to
flying the plane at low speeds,like during takeoff.
When they're extended theychange the shape of the wing and
create more lift during slowspeeds.
But with the slats retracted,it changed the stall speed of
the plane from 124 knots to 159,which is a huge, significant
(13:01):
difference.
Now they had a workinghypothesis.
They just needed to test it,and for that they need a flight
simulator and a pilot to testthe conditions.
As the pilot put the simulatorin the air, the left engine and
hydraulics were cut to simulatethe conditions of flight 191.
(13:22):
When the left wing started tostall out, a warning system
violently shook the controlstick to warn of a stall.
The system was mostappropriately called the stick
shaker.
During a potential stall, thecorrect response to it is to
lower the nose and increasepower to the engine.
(13:43):
This will allow the plane tofly out of it by increasing
airspeed, and that's exactlywhat the pilot and the sim did,
and he successfully pulled theplane out of the stall and saved
it.
So now it was back to thedrawing board for the
investigators, and that's whenthey found another serious
(14:03):
design flaw in the plane.
Every single warning system inthe plane was powered by the
number one engine.
So when it went away, not onlydid it fuck up the hydraulics,
but it fucked up electricalsystems too, which would have
(14:25):
led to the loss of instrumentsin the cockpit.
It was determined that at thetime, the flight crew would not
have known they were stalling,and back to the simulator they
went, this time with a new pilotbehind the stick and unknown to
the pilot.
All warning systems weredisabled.
(14:46):
This time, when they went intotakeoff without the stall
warning, the pilot assumed theyhad just lost power to the
engine and followed the properprocedure for what to do when an
engine is lost during takeoff,and that is to put the plane
into a climb and get away fromthe ground, which means pointing
(15:07):
the nose up and reducing speedto the minimum safe flying speed
the exact opposite of what youwant to happen in a stall.
This just made everything worseand caused the simulator to
roll on its side, dooming theflight.
With this, the NTSB concludedthe pilots were not at fault for
(15:28):
the crash.
However, the FAA was partiallyto blame for not enforcing
correct procedures, as well asAmerican Airlines for their
fucked up maintenance practices.
The FAA would go on to issue amandate that shake stickers be
installed on both pilot controlcolumns, not just one, which
(15:50):
just seems like common sense tome.
But whatever, I'm not anaerospace engineer.
The DC-10 would go through somedesign changes as well.
The electrical systems were nowrequired to be powered by more
than one engine in case of afailure, and the hydraulic lines
in the wings had special plugsput in them to prevent slats and
(16:12):
other control surfaces fromretracting if the lines were cut
.
And it's a shame the entirehydraulic system wasn't
completely redesigned.
This could have potentiallyavoided the crash of United
Airlines Flight 232 10 yearslater.
Had they done that and I did awhole episode on that crash.
If you haven't listened to ityet, it's in the feed.
(16:34):
American Airlines also decidedafter this that maybe putting a
camera in the cockpit wasn'tsuch a good idea, so they
discontinued it.
Also, during the grounding ofevery DC-10, they were all
inspected and 8 out of 138 inservice were found to have
(16:59):
similar damage to the pylon asflight 191 had.
So it was just a matter of timebefore this happened.
The crash would also go on tohave an extremely negative
effect on public perception ofthe DC-10.
This was the third major crashin the last five years.
The first two crashes werecaused by a faulty cargo door
(17:22):
opening during flight, causingthe cabin to experience
explosive decompression that ledto the crashes and the loss of
hundreds of lives.
So people were afraid to fly inthem and often canceled or
switched flights to not have togo on one.
By 1983, mcdonnell Douglasannounced that, due to the lack
(17:44):
of orders, production on theDC-10s would be stopped and
production would eventually cometo an end in 1989.
And despite public perceptions,after numerous redesigns the
DC-10 would have a long safetyrecord, just as good, if not
better, than similarly sizedplanes, and it was a good thing
(18:08):
McDonnell Douglas got theseredesigns in place.
In 1997, mcdonnell Douglas wasbought out by Boeing, and I
think we all know they don'texactly have the greatest track
record in keeping planes in theair right now.
Anyways, the DC-10 would remainin service before being retired
(18:29):
from the airlines in 2014.
However, there is still 10 ofthem still in service.
Four of them are being used ina firefighting role, as aerial
tankers, two are being used toconduct aerial refueling, three
of them are being used as cargoplanes and the last one was
(18:50):
heavily modified and serves as afully functioning teaching
hospital specializing in eyesurgery, and both
state-of-the-art teachingfacilities, including a
classroom, operating room andrecovery room.
Orbis International, the ownerof the modified DC-10, has been
in over 80 countries helping toimprove eye care and prevent
(19:15):
avoidable blindness since FedExdonated the plane in 1982.
Since FedEx donated the planein 1982.
And that was the crash ofAmerican Airlines Flight 191.
Thanks for listening and if youliked the show, please consider
leaving a rating or review onyour app of choice, and you can
(19:40):
reach out to the show athistoriesofdisaster at gmailcom
with questions, comments orsuggestions, as well as
following the show on socialmedia like Facebook or Instagram
and a few others, tiktok andYouTube and whatever.
Think I've got a Tumblr now tooand share the episode.
Your friends will love it andtake care of yourself out there.
(20:02):
Chase that dream.
Live for today, becausetomorrow is never guaranteed.
Thanks and goodbye.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.