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
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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.
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