Alfred Clair Haynes (August 31, 1931 – August 25, 2019) was an American airline pilot. He flew for United Airlines, and in 1989, came to international attention as the captain of United Airlines Flight 232, which crashed in Sioux City, Iowa, after suffering a total loss of controls. Having recovered and returned to service as a pilot, Haynes retired from United Airlines in 1991, and subsequently became a public speaker for aviation safety.
Al Haynes | |
|---|---|
 Haynes lecturing members of the 305th Air Mobility Wing in 2012 | |
| Born | Alfred Clair Haynes August 31, 1931 |
| Died | August 25, 2019 (aged 87) |
| Occupation | Airline pilot |
| Spouse | 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-grandchild |
Early life edit
Al Haynes was born on August 31, 1931, at the family home in Paris, Texas.[1] He was the third child to Herbert Clair Haynes (1896–1972) and Fannie Temperance Baker (1896–1991). His father worked as a district manager of a telephone company and his mother was a homemaker. By 1940, the family relocated to Dallas, Texas, where Haynes attended Woodrow Wilson High School.[2][3] Haynes graduated from 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, which was his employer for the next 35 years. He retired in 1991.[5]
Career edit
Military career edit
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 edit
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, refusing offers of promotion, because they would have required relocating 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 during 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 airplane 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 airplane's flaps and rudder or almost any other control surfaces.
Without flight controls the airplane began a right descending turn, a tendency that persisted for the rest of the flight. Haynes reduced the thrust on the left engine (#1), allowing differential thrust from the right engine (#3) to level the aircraft. 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 airplane was diverted to Sioux City for an emergency landing.[8] With his very limited ability to control the airplane, Haynes had difficulty aligning with a runway, reducing speed and landing nose-up. Consequently, the airplane approached the runway at almost twice the desired landing speed resulting in a very hard landing with catastrophic damage to the airframe. The airplane then broke into pieces as it slid off the runway with the remaining fuel bursting into flames. As can be heard in the cockpit flight recording, it was the intervention of Fitch that ultimately got the airplane to the airport.
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. 35 minutes after the crash-landing, rescuers identified the cockpit and rescued the flight crew. Most had minor injuries apart from Denny Fitch, who almost died having suffered multiple fractures and other organ injuries. Haynes believed five factors contributed to the degree of success in Sioux City; luck, communications, preparation, execution, and cooperation.[9]
Haynes resumed flight duty after his recovery.
Career after United Airlines edit
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 more than 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]
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 edit
Death edit
Haynes died on August 25, 2019, in a Seattle hospital after a brief illness at the age of 87.[15][16] United Airlines issued a statement thanking him for "his exceptional efforts aboard Flight UA232".[17]
In popular culture edit
- American actor Charlton Heston portrayed Captain Al Haynes in the TV film A Thousand Heroes (1992).
- Captain Al Haynes appeared in the documentary Seconds from Disaster Season 2: Episode 7 (2005) called "Crash Landing at Sioux City".
- Canadian actor Stewart Arnott portrayed Captain Al Haynes in the Canadian TV series in the Canadian TV series Mayday Season 11: Episode 13 (2012) called "Impossible Landing" and Air Crash Investigation Special Report Season 3: Episode 8 (2020) called "Courage in the Cockpit".
References edit
- ^ a b
Joe Godfrey (1999-09-29). "Al Haynes". Aviation Web magazine. 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.
- ^ "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). Flight Safety. 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 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 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. Archived from the original on August 27, 2019. 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. Archived from the original on 2019-11-14.