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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 1963)
MEDKOKD MAIL TRIBUNE. MKDFOKD. OREGON TIIUitSDAY. OCTOBKK 17, 1963 C 9 Duescher Pulls Plane Out of Dive - Saves 52 Lives By ROBERT J. SERLING UP1 Aviation Editor WASHINGTON (UPI) This Is the story of a plane, a oilot, and a disaster that didn't hap pen. Uo back to July 12, 1963. Shortly before 11 D m. (CDT) a United Air Lines Boeing ?20 jet commanded by Lapt. Lviv den E. Duescher was cruising over iveDrasna at 35,000 feet. The flight was number 74fi San Francisco to Chicago. The Boeing was one of several planes United had modified for its one-class service using five - abreast seating and no cabin dividers. Aboard were 53 passengers, the usual cross section of American social and economic life found in any air uner camn. Before ieaving San Francisco, Duescher had received a com pany weather forecast and an alysis indicating a mild atmos pheric disturbance building up over Nebraska. A firm believer in the airline pilot's creed ("In God we trust everything else We check"), Duescher turned on his weather - warning radar sometime before entering the suspected area. Climb Abnve Storm Flight 746 was approaching O'Neil, Neb., when Duescher's radar picked up mild turbulence a few miles ahead. With tradi tional caution, he turned on the seat belt sign. It was a routine and almost automatic act, but it was to prevent injuries in the next few minutes. At the same time, the entire flight deck crew fastened their shoulder harness es as well as their own seat belts. "Let's see if we can climb above it," Duescher suggested (i-s'i If v ill -4 . DISASTER AVERTED Lynden E. Duescher is shown here seated at the controls of the plane in which he averted a dis aster in an emergency situation last July. He is credited with saving the lives of 53 passengers on a United Air Lines Boeing 720. (UPI) to his copilot. "Ask ATC (Air Traffic Control) for 41,000." Permission to climb to 41,000 ftWATIIlFILL SsSlfeail we mean! t: NEW LOW PRICE Kentucky's finest Bourbon for over 150 Years! A$Qoo $475 0ftf , J HUT "T45 OT. (CODE 111. C) '-(COOE 1I1.B) Also Available BOTTLED IN BOND 0ISTILLE0 AND BOTTLED Br 86 Proof JARDSIOWN. NELSON COUNT. KENTUCKY was granted quickly. Duescher pulled back on the yoke gently a move that sent hydraulic fluid coursing through the con trol system at a rate of 3.000 pounds per squara inch. One hundred and 36 feet behind the cockpit, the massive elevators on the tail moved slowly and the 720 began its climb. Duescher peered into t h e green radar screen. Still nothing but mild turbulence ahead. The 720 nudged upward into a cloud formation. But unknown to the crew of flight 746, in the cloud lurked a potential killer. 36,000. 37,000. 37,500. The bottom of the sky sudden ly dropped out. The Boeing was caught in an abnormally severe downdraft. Deuscher chopped his power and brought the hose up the accepted maneuver for reduc ing speed in severe turbulence. Jet Stalls Then, without warning and with the nose still up and power cut, flight 746 plunged into an equally severe updrafl. It was as if a giant fist had been push ed against the Boeing's nose, preventing any forward motion. There can be only one result in such an unexpected loss of air speed. The jet stalled. The nose went down and the plane fell off on one wing into a high speed, almost uncontroll able dive. Down it fell, "G" forces building up like a giant vise clamping on tortured metal and human bodies alike. The time was 10:55 p.m. (CDT). At this precise moment, the fate of the 53 passengers hinged on Duescher's instinctive reac tion vs. the training that is drummed into the mind and soul, of every jet pilot "You fly 'em by the book, not in stinct." Instinct told him to bring the nose up as quickly as possible. Instinct told him that he had to act fast or the dive might tear off his wings. But in this instance, instinct was a blood - brother of panic. Duescher did not panic. He knew he lacked control over his elevators. But he also knew he still had plenty of sky between the 720 and the ground. He re sisted the human, normal im pulse to move the elevators as soon as the dive started. He let the Boeing fall, using wing flaps and spoilers to keep the speed down, hoping to regain control gradually. 20,000. 19,000. 18,000. Returns to Normal Gingerly and tenderly, he brought the yoke back. The nose came up. At 12,000 feet, flight 720 returned to a normal kel. In the cabin, there was no outward panic mainly because it was dark outside, giving passen gers little with which to relate about the plane's maneuvering. But there still was fear, as Duescher was to find out. Flight 746 climbed to 41,000 and proceeded to Chicago. The 53 passengers disembark ed. When Duescher left the plane, some of them booed him. The Federal Aviation agency, Civil Aeronautics board, United and Boeing conducted a thor ough investigation of flight 746's brush with disaster. Significant ly, the incident closely resembl ed what had led up to the fatal crash of another Boeing 720 in the Florida Everglades arlier this year a Northwest jet that disintegrated while climb i n g through severe thunderstorm turbulence. Verdict Unknown The CAB has not issued a verdict on the Northwest crash. But there is considerable evi dence that the plane was caught in a severe updraft, resulting in a stall and structural failure of the elevators. The pilot may have tried to pull up the nose too soon, although that is pure conjecture. In both cases, the severity of the turbulence a violent down- draft followed by an equally violent updraft was not only unusual but almost unheard of. In the United incident, it must have built up in a split - second or it would have shown up on radar. Later weather reports showed that the condition lasted only a few minutes and dimin ished almost as quickly as it had developed. United since then has changed its operations manual increas ing the turbulence penetration 1 j speed enough to prevent a stall even in a severe updraft. UAL President W. A. Patter son wrote a personal letter to most of the 53 persons who had been aboard flight 746. It be gan: "Several weeks ago you were a passenger on our flight 746 from San Francisco to Chicago. I am sure the experience was frightening to say the least. If we are to be deserving of your confidence, we must be com pletely frank in providing you with the facts involved in such an incident . . ." Patterson then went on to re late the circumstancesl Speak- I ing of Duescher in particular he added: I "I don't know of any expert I ence where a flight officer kept his head and under such a se I vere experience had the knowl ! edge of what not to do as well ! as what lo do under such con I ditions. We can all be grateful I to him for the deliberate and cool -headed manner in which Dr. Livingstone's Reply Is Given NEW YORK (UPI) - "Dr. Livingstone, I presume," said Sir Henry Morgan Stanley when he met Dr. David Livingstone. Tho ffreetine has been in- mnrtaVntvi in nrint. But what did Livingstone say in reply? The Coffee Brewing institute reports he replied, "Just in time for coffee, Stanley." he handled and solved such a critical emergancy." There was one more after math to the story of flight 746. A few weeks ago, Patterson invited Duescher and his crew to lunch. He handed each a check. The exact amount cannot be revealed but it was in five figures. For A Limited Time . . . ANYONE CAN AFFORD Plastic Tops on Case Pieces French Provincia NMk Vi 14. MIS .; . o (j H la mirror i ) a tv m A Sy0 Poster Bed and Canopy M J . 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