Al Haynes
Al Haynes | |
---|---|
![]() Haynes lecturing members of the 305th Air Mobility Wing in 2012 | |
Born | Alfred Clair Haynes August 31, 1931 |
Died | August 25, 2019 Seattle, Washington | (aged 87)
Occupation | Airline pilot |
Spouse(s) | Darlene Flora Sumovich
(m. 1959; died 1999) |
Children | Laurie Haynes-Arguello Anthony Clair “Tony” Haynes Daniel Clair “Dan” Haynes |
Parent(s) | Herbert Clair Haynes Fannie Temperance Baker |
Relatives | 3 grandchildren, 1 great-grandchildren |
Alfred Clair Haynes (August 31, 1931 – August 25, 2019) was an American commercial pilot. He flew for United Airlines and was highly regarded for his handling of the United Airlines Flight 232 crash in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1989. He subsequently became a public speaker on aviation safety.
Early life[]
Al Haynes was born at 7:20 pm on August 31, 1931 at the family home in Paris, Texas.[1] He was the third child to Herbert Clair Haynes (August 17, 1896 – February 15, 1972) and Fannie Temperance Baker (April 12, 1896 – July 30, 1991). His father worked as a district manager of a telephone company and his mother was a homemaker. By 1940, the family moved to Dallas, Texas, where Haynes attended Woodrow Wilson High School.[2][3] Haynes attended Texas A&M College (now Texas A&M University) prior to joining the United States Marine Corps.[4] He became a first lieutenant and was an instructor pilot. He served until 1956 and then joined United Airlines, where he rose through the ranks for the next 35 years. He retired in 1991.[5]
Career[]
Military career[]
Haynes lost his draft deferment while taking a semester off from Texas A&M, while the United States was engaged in the Korean War, and decided to join the U.S. Marine Corps.[6] He spent four years in the Marine Corps, serving as a pilot.
United Airlines flying career[]
In 1956, Haynes joined United Airlines after his wartime service.[1][7] For most of his career with United Airlines he served as a flight engineer or co-pilot, turning down offers of promotion, because they would have required moving from Seattle.[7] However, in 1985, he did accept a promotion to Captain, because he would be approaching retirement soon, and his retirement pay would be based on his pay in his last five years.
On July 19, 1989, Haynes was the Captain of United Airlines Flight 232, piloting a DC-10, a large trijet airliner, carrying 296 passengers and crew.[8] The plane had left Denver for Chicago, with a final destination of Philadelphia, but experienced a catastrophic engine failure in its rear engine, which triggered a loss of hydraulic fluid. Without hydraulic fluid Haynes and his flight crew could not move the plane's flaps and rudder and almost all other control surfaces.
Without flight controls the plane began entering a right descending turn, a tendency that persisted for the rest of the flight.[8] Haynes reduced the thrust on the left engine (#1), allowing differential thrust from the right engine (#3) to level the aircraft.[8]
An off-duty pilot, Dennis Edward Fitch, joined Haynes and his co-pilot, William Roy Records, and flight engineer Dudley Joseph Dvorak, on the flight deck.[8]
The plane was diverted to Sioux City for an emergency landing.[8] With his very limited ability to control the plane, Haynes had difficulty lining up on a runway and performing the crucial step of reducing speed and landing nose-up. Consequently, the plane approached the runway at almost twice the desired landing speed resulting in a very heavy landing with catastrophic damage to the airframe. The plane then broke into pieces as it slid off the runway with the remaining fuel bursting into flames.
184 people survived the crash-landing.[8] 32 died of smoke inhalation, 80 died of traumatic injuries. Haynes and his colleagues were trapped in the cockpit. Thirty minutes after the crash-landing rescuers identified the cockpit and rescued them, all with minor injuries. Haynes believed five factors contributed to the degree of success in Sioux City; luck, communications, preparation, execution, and cooperation.[9]
Haynes returned to flight duty after his recovery.
Career after United Airlines[]
According to NPR, "Haynes is widely seen as a hero among aviation experts, akin to Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and his 'miracle on the Hudson.'"[10]
He was also a volunteer umpire for Little League Baseball for over 33 years and a stadium announcer for high school football for more than 25 years.[4][5] He was an umpire in the 1978 Little League World Series.[11]
Personal tragedy struck Haynes in 1996 when his oldest son Anthony Clair “Tony” Haynes (October 14, 1959 – August 12, 1996) was killed in a motorcycle accident. Three years later, his wife of 40 years, Darlene Flora Sumovich (January 11, 1933 – July 18, 1999), died of a rare infection one day before the tenth anniversary of UA232 crash.[7]
He was referred to as a hero, but refused to say he was one. He gave all the credit to the flight attendants, who he believed did not receive enough credit for the work they did.[12][13]
Awards (incomplete list)[]
- Smithsonian Wall of Honor [4]
- Dr. Earl Weiner Award[14] (also awarded to Dr. Henry Heimlich of the Heimlich maneuver).
Death[]
Haynes died on August 25, 2019 in a Seattle hospital after a brief illness, six days before his eighty-eighth birthday.[15][16] When Haynes died in August 2019, United Airlines issued a statement thanking him for "his exceptional efforts aboard Flight UA232".[17]
References[]
- ^ a b
Joe Godfrey (1999-09-29). "Al Haynes". . Retrieved 2020-04-04.
After four years in the Navy he joined United Airlines, where he rose through the ranks for the next 35 years.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012"; School Name: Woodrow Wilson High School; Year: 1948
- ^ 1940; Census Place: Dallas, Dallas, Texas; Roll: m-t0627-04172; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 255-3
- ^ a b c "Capt Al Haynes Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Wall of Honor". 17 January 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^ a b "Little League® International Honors the Memory of Hero Pilot, LLBWS umpire, Al Haynes". littleleague.org. August 26, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^
Alfred C. Haynes (June 1991). "United 232: Coping With the "One-in-a-Billion" Loss of All Flight Controls" (PDF). . 48 (6): 1–10.
The following is what he considers five primary factors involved in making it possible to cope with a major inflight emergency such as the one-in-a-billion loss of all flight controls
- ^ a b c Finney, Daniel P. "Al Haynes, pilot of United Flight 232 and reluctant hero, dies 30 years after deadly crash in Iowa". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
- ^ a b c d e f Aircraft Accident Report, United Airlines Flight 232, McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10, Sioux Gateway Airport, Sioux City, Iowa, July 19, 1989 (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. November 1, 1990. NTSB/AAR-90/06. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
- ^ "NASA United Flight 232 Lecture by Capt Al Haynes - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
- ^ Kennedy, Merrit (August 26, 2019). "Al Haynes, Pilot From Miraculous 1989 Crash Landing, Has Died". NPR. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
- ^ Genzlinger, Neil (September 24, 2019). "Alfred Haynes, Pilot Who Saved Scores in Crash Landing, Dies at 87". New York Times. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- ^ Finney, Daniel (August 27, 2019). "Al Haynes, pilot of United Flight 232 and reluctant hero, dies 30 years after deadly crash in Iowa". Des Moines Register. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
- ^ Jones, Al (August 26, 2019). "Remembering Al Haynes, the pilot who guided United Flight 232 to its crash-landing at Sioux Gateway Airport". ktiv.com. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^ Kanki, Barbara G.; Anca, José; Chidester, Thomas R., eds. (2019). Crew Resource Management. Elsevier. p. xxxvi. ISBN 978-0-12-812995-1.
- ^ Dreeszen, Dave (August 26, 2019). "Al Haynes, pilot of Flight 232, dies at 87". Sioux City Journal. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^ Leasca, Stacey (August 27, 2019). "Heroic United Airlines Pilot Dies 30 Years After Saving 184 Passengers in Iowa Crash". travelandleisure.com. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^ "Captain Al Haynes 'made the impossible possible'". United.com.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
- 1931 births
- 2019 deaths
- Aviators from Texas
- Commercial aviators
- Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents
- People from Paris, Texas
- Texas A&M University alumni
- United States Marine Corps officers
- United Airlines people
- Military personnel from Texas