Show Witnesses marvel at survivors Crash fireball left little hope that anyone had made it alive inhalation and that most of the injuries — GRAPEVINE Texas (AP) Above below and on board doomed Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 people realized something was terribly wrong They watched horrified as the plane skidded off a runway splintered crashed and burned Then they marveled that anyone survived the accident Wednesday at Dallas-FoWorth International Airport The crash killed 13 but at least 94 survived authorities said “I saw it take off and I knew something was wrong" said Lon Might an airport employee Passengers in a commuter plane arriving at the airport spotted the Boeing 727 struggling to get airborne and shouted encouragement to the pilot “We were cheering this guy to get the plane off the ground” said Gene Metzig “It was very emotional” Said Michelle Christensen 25 a Dallas real estate agent aboard Flight 1141: “The minute we took off the ground I knew we were going to crash” From an office building Edward Leb looked out and noticed the aircraft was not flying in a normal position that it was almost level with the ground and its nose barely was ‘We were cheering this guy to get the plane off the ground It was very emotional — Gene Metzig crash witness rt up “And then it just fell straight down It fell like a pancake on its big belly the back end lower than the front end” Leb said At an airport toll booth Mary Centron 47 of Hurst who witnessed a Delta Air Lines Associated Press Passenger is treated by medical workers at site of crash crash here three years ago knew at once the plane was flying “too damn low to be taking off” Sobbing nauseated and recalling the previ- - ous tragedy in which 137 died she said: “The tail disappeared first and next the nose disappeared behind a hill and then there was a humongous fireball I didn’t think anybody had made it” Aboard the craft en route from Jackson Miss to Salt Lake City via Dallas passenger Peter Wright heard a “banging noise” under the carriage and then someone exclaim: “We’re not going to make it!” Within moments of its 9 am takeoff Flight 1141 dropped like a wounded bird from the cloudless sky skidded off the runway bounced into a field of waist-hig- h prairie grass and broke apart in flames smoke and debris The crash ripped off one wing and two engines tore three gaping holes in the fuselage and left the crippled aircraft with its tail dangling and its nose twisted grotesquely to one side “It looks like a beached and dying bottlenosed dolphin” said a photographer Others said it resembled a giant stricken goose No one could say with certainty what happened only that the death toll could have been staggering Authorities indicated most of the deaths were caused by bums and smoke trow Crash From 1A “As the plane came up to take off it was barely getting off the ground and the right wing was dipping as it passed beyond us There were flames coming out of the right engine and the wing touched the ground The plane started spinning (and) there was an explosion” he said However Delta officials in Dallas would not confirm speculation about the engine and NTSB official Lee Dickinson said: “We will not rule out anything All doors are open” Federal Aviation Administration records show the cockpit crew had clean flying records and the plane reported only minor problems during the past five years including replacement of a wing flap controller Delta spokesman Henry Conley said none of the airline’s other 727s would be pulled from service because of the crash “We don’t see anything serious enough to pull any planes” he said Among the survivors were the three pilots officials said including Capt Larry Davis 48 of Greenville a Delta pilot since 1965 and a Boeing 727 captain for the last nine years Parkland Hospital officials said Davis who was pinned in the wreckage was talking but in shock His injuries were described as traumatic Mary Cintron a toll booth cashier at the airport who saw the accident said she was astonished at how many people survived particularly since she witnessed the worst aviation disaster in Texas history the Aug 2 1985 crash of another Delta flight that attempted to land at the airport during a thunderstorm killing 137 people “Today looked! 200 times worse” she said 1 didn’t think anybody had made it” Most of the fatalities occurred in the back of the plane authoriU'iVV ties said Hartman of the Dal- Jim Cpl Worth Department of Public Safety said “it was incredible” that so many survived One passenger Mona Thomason said she and others “jumped on the wing but it looked like we were jumping into a pit of fire” She reported seeing a woman with two childrer — “she got one of them out but I’m afraid the las-Fo- rt other one was caught in the fire” “People were jumping on the plane’s wing and burning themselves on it because it was so red hot” said passenger Jim Hammock “We got out of the way fast because we thought it was going to explode” Andy Dyer 38 a firefighter on his way to Montana to help battle forest fires said the other passengers were orderly as they left the plane “It was kind of surprising There wasn’t any screaming hardly at all It was real quiet I think everybody was aware of what was going on” said Dyer The jetliner was dark after the crash said David Carmichael 38 Today’s weather outlook Associated Press who headed toward a source of light — a hole in the torn fuselage “I waited in line to crawl out through that hole It was the nearest light that I could see coming into the plane other than the fire down the right side You could feel the heat and the smoke was terrible” Carmichael said Seattle-base- d Boeing Co said the aircraft was purchased new by Delta in 1973 and officials said new engines — Pratt & Whitney JT8Ds — were installed five years ago Spokesman David Jimenez said the jet had accumu- lated 38629 landings a as average takeoffs and number he described sound” Other passengers said they heard knocking noises or popping sounds or loud thumps and Dale Patterson 36 of Plano thought it “sounded like it blew a tire” Dallas vetBut Dan Walker a erinarian said “There was no audible explosion before the crash” He said the plane did encounter “turbulence” before it veered out of control and insisted that the pilot did an excellent job of “bringing it down on its belly” Austin attorney Rick Arnett seated in a plane on the ground said he and other passengers saw the wobbly Delta jetliner through their windows and were hollering: “Get up! Get up!” But it was not to be suffer’ ” she said Kin Selvage told the Salt Lake Tribune that he heard explosions in the left wing engine just before the plane went down Selvage who was sitting over the left wing said the nose of the craft began to “yaw” to the left before the jet slammed into the ground “There was the first impact and a fireball came by us on the left I guess the left wing explod- of Farmington a Delta was a passenger on the who pilot flight He reportedly suffered a back injury and was in stable condition at Harrison Methodist ' Hospital Brad McClarey 34 of Sandy was in stable condition at Methodist Medical Center Russell ed” he said Guttu of Salt Lake City was adThe impact threw the passenmitted to Baylor Medical Center gers “hard forward” and the cabin but no condition was reported filled with choking blinding and Damon Berry 37 of Sandy smoke another Delta pilot aboard as a I’d already bought “I passenger was also treated and the thought he said “I wished one” big released I’d been killed on impact so that It was several hours after the I didn’t have to go through that” crash that Mrs Selvage finally Even so Selvage said the pasheard from her husband who sengers remained calm called from a hotel room in Dallas after being treated for a lacerIt was only much later at the ated hand hospital emergency room that “He said he thought in his the ordeal took its toll mind ‘I’m either going to bum to “I cried a little bit I was so redeath or suffocate — I’m going to lieved” Selvage said Same Delta flight aborts takeoff DALLAS (AP) — The same d Delta flight involved in a crash that killed 13 Wednesday taxied out for takeoff today but turned back apparently because of an incorrect instrument reading a spokesman said Flight 1141 let off its passengers after returning to the termiSalt Lake of some sort an assistant DOn Burkhalter City-boun- US attorney in Jackson who was aboard the plane said “It was a routine takeoff until we got almost to the end of the runway Then we heard what sounded like bumps and the pilot deacceler-ate- d He said there was a problem with the compressors” “The captain said and this is a I quote ‘It’s just one of those things’” Burkhalter said “We just laughed" Burkhalter said a couple of people on today’s flight said they were among the survivors of Wednesday’s crash nal The flight which originated in Jackson Miss had been scheduled to leave Dallas at 8:31 am “Something wasn’t up to standard” Delta spokesman Bill Berry said in Atlanta He said he believed the problem involved an incorrect reading dene Glasmann Hatch — President Johnson — General Manager William L Randall C Hatch — Managing Editor Flora Ogan — Associate Editor Salt Lake Ogden and Prove — Tonight fair Lows in the mid-5- 0s Friday sunny and warm In the low 90s Labor Day weekend forecast fair to partly cloudy and warm Highs in the upper 80s Lows generally In the Published daily and Sunday by the Standard Corn 455 23rd St Ogden Utah 84402 Copyright © 1988 Postmaster: Send address corrections to Standard-ExaminPO Box 951 Ogden UT (USPS 403-8484402 Second class postage paid at Ogden Utah Highs er 50s Southern Utah — Fair to partly cloudy through Friday Widely scattered afternoon and evening thundershowers east portion and a few in the west Highs 85 to 95 except near 100 dixie Lows in the upper 40s and 50s except lower 60s extreme south Southeastern Idaho — Sunny Friday Clear tonight Smoky areas Highs upper 80s to mld-9Lows tonight upper 30s to the Circulation To subscribe: Call the circulation department at one of the numbers below weekdays 8 am-- 5 pm Weber & North Davis counties 1 South Davis Box Elder & Morgan Delivery problems: Call before 7:30 pm weekdays or before 11:30 am Saturdays and Sundays After those times please leave a recorded message Carrier delivery rates: Daily & Sunday $725month or $87year Mail delivery rates: Daily & Sunday $850month or $1 02year Sunday only $500month or $60year 399-961- lq upper 40s Northern Idaho — Fair and warm Saturday through mon-da- y Highs In the upper 80s to In “non-survivabl- e” Standard-Examine- r Western states Regional forecast mid 90s Lows cuts scrapes and bruises “We feel lucky there were only 13 victims” said Dr Nizam Peerwani the Tarrant Counwe were told ty medical examiner “Initially we were preso bodies there would be 60 worst" the for pared Jim Hartman Department of Public Safety officer at the airport called it “incredible” that so many survived In fact early reports from the control tower indicated the crash was Said Norman Newcity 36 a Georgia businessman hospitalized with a broken heel: “It was just like a roller coaster ride with everything coming apart everything flying apart" “We were going down the runway and the sound of the engine changed” said Melissa Lewis 24 a graduate student at Mississippi State University “There was a different From 1A Fuchs 50 Rescue worker peers out of emergency door of wrecked jetliner were Angeles 82° 1 Pacific Ocean 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