30 Years Ago, Tomorrow

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Tdarcos
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30 Years Ago, Tomorrow

Post by Tdarcos »

On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 was not re-de-iced as it sat too long after being de-iced - more than one hour - before taking off from Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. (The pilot had never flown in snow conditions before.) It flew a short distance before it collided with the 14th Street Bridge (connecting Arlington County with Washington DC), killed 4 people, then fell over the side and broke open.

A total of five passengers and a stewardess survived, but were in extreme danger of dying from exposure in the frigid Potomac River. A rescue helicopter basically had a rope and a very good pilot who had experience flying in Vietnam, as well as a fearless rescuer working from the skids who used his best efforts to save people in the river.

An onlooker by the name of Lenny Skutnik saw that a woman they were trying to save was about to drown, being too weak to grab on to the life preserver and (suffering from exposure to the effects of jet fuel), he jumped into the river, grabbed the woman and brought her back to shore, saving her life.

The Sixth Passenger who was in the water kept giving the rope to other people whom he thought were in more danger of dying from exposure or drowning than he was. Unfortunately by the time the helicopter saved the other five people, he had succumbed to the freezing water.

An investigation showed that of the 79 people who died from the plane crash, only one died of drowning. Thus they were able to determine who was the Sixth Passenger, who chose to save other people, and paid the ultimate price for doing so.

The 14th Street bridge used to be known as the Rochambeau Bridge, but in view of the Sixth Passenger's ultimate sacrifice, it was renamed in honor of him, and that's why the 14th Street bridge in Washington, D.C. was renamed for a bank examiner from the FDIC: The Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge.
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Post by pinback »

Howard Stern likes this.
I don't have to say anything. I'm a doctor, too.

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Tdarcos
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Post by Tdarcos »

pinback wrote:Howard Stern likes this.
Yeah, I know. Shortly after the incident happened, Stern made a call on the air to Air Florida's reservation center, and asked the poor clerk how much a one-way ticket was from National Airport to the 14th Street bridge!
Alan Francis wrote a book containing everything men understand about women. It consisted of 100 blank pages.

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Post by pinback »

We can laugh about it now.

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