SIOUX CITY, Iowa — It is a chilling roll call. The names of the 112 people killed aboard United flight 232, were read aloud Saturday, at a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the crash.
The remembrance was held at the Mid-America Museum of Aviation and Transportation in Sioux City, adjacent to the airport’s runway 2-2, where the DC-10 came crashing down in a cartwheeling fireball on July 19, 1989.
The United flight blew its tail engine about an hour into flight after departing Denver’s Stapleton airport. The blast took out the hydraulics, crippling the plane and making it nearly impossible to maneuver.
But somehow, Captain Al Haynes and his crew were able to land the aircraft, saving 184 of the 296 lives on board.
STORY: FOX31 Denver reunites Flight 232 hero with little boy he saved
At Saturday’s ceremony, Haynes, now 82, was met with a standing ovation.
“We the crew of 232 thank you, and thank you for having us here,” Haynes told the crowd of about 500.
Many in the crowd were survivors of the crash, including Jerry Schemmel, radio play-by-play voice of the Colorado Rockies.
“Please know we will never forget the 112 (who died),” Schemmel said.
There were dozens of children aboard United flight 232 when it crashed, and FOX 31 Denver has spent the last two months gathering their stories of survival. You can see those stories in a FOX 31 Denver News Special “The Children of Flight 232,” airing Sunday, July 20 at 9:30 on KDVR and KDVR.com