Hero of the Week 20

Welcome back viewers!

This week we will honor a team of heroes

Allow me to introduce: the crew of Reeve Aleutian flight 8.

Reeve Aleutian flight 8 was an American domestic flight from Cold Bay, Alaska to Seattle, Washington. The plane itself, was a Lockheed L-188 Electra that carried 10 passengers and 5 crew members. The plane took off from Cold Bay Airport early in the morning on June 8, 1983. The men flying the plane were Captain James Gibson and First Officer Gary Lintner. Also onboard was Flight Engineer Gerald "Moose" Laurin along with two flight attendants (Wendy Croom and Victoria Fredenhagen).

Less than an hour into their flight, Gibson and Lintner began to feel strange vibrations in their controls. The vibrations continued to get worse as the aircraft climbed past 19,000 feet. The pilots eventually decided to turn the plane around and head back to Cold Bay. They then sent Engineer Laurin to take a look at the engines from the passenger cabin. He (along with one of the flight attendants) looked out one of the windows at the two on the plane's right wing. Almost immediately as they began to observe, the propeller from engine No. 4 broke off and flew spinning under the aircraft. Laurin (along with the rest of the passengers and crew) than heard and felt a loud bang that caused the aircraft's cabin to depressurize and its controls to jam. When it was clear, flight attendant Wendy Croom discovered that the propeller had torn an 8 foot long gash in the belly of the aircraft. 

 Laurin returned to the cockpit to help Captain Gibson and Officer Lintner regain control of the airplane. Flight attendant Wendy Croom came in minutes later and alerted the pilots to the 8 foot hole in the fuselage before returning to the passenger cabin to keep the passengers calm. As a result Captain Gibson quickly cut the speed of the plane to keep it from being ripped apart by the wind. After this, he, Lintner, and Laurin began to try and regain control. The first thing they did was turn the autopilot on. This allowed them regain some vertical control and descend to 10,000 feet in order to save their passengers (and themselves) from hypoxia. However, they still had no control over the plane's steering. After a few tense minutes, Gibson and Linter found that although the controls were jammed, they were not severed. Using their combined strength on the yoke, the pilots were able to pull the plane into a wide right bank that put them on a course back to Alaska.

The crew of Reeve Aleutian Flight 8 then got in contact with air traffic controllers who guided the airplane to a nearby airport. As they approached, the crew realized that due to the limited control the airplane was traveling too fast (200 knots) to make a safe landing. The runway at the airport was only 10,000 feet long and if the plane's speed didn't drop, it would overshoot the runway and crash. Gibson, Lintner, and Laurin were advised by ground control to shut down one of their remaining three engines in order to cut their speed. They did so and their speed dropped a bit. They then began their descent.

Their first attempt to land failed when they realized that even with two of their engines off, they were still going too fast. They quickly pulled the plane up and banked around the airport for a second landing attempt. Gibson made a risky decision in order to slow down the plane. He would begin his descent from 800 feet and then immediately shut off the two remaining engines upon touchdown. This meant shutting down the plane, relinquishing all control, and letting it coast to a stop on its own. It was an all or nothing gamble. With a news crew filming from the ground, Reeve Aleutian Flight 8 made its final descent. It touched down and the crew immediately shut down the engines. The airplane then hurdled down the runway at 140 knots. For a while it looked like disaster was brewing (one tire blew out and the brakes caught fire), until the aircraft began to slow down and finally stopped. 

Despite the rough landing, all 15 passengers and crew survived without any injury. For their brave and skillful landing that saved their passengers, the crew of Reeve Aleutian Flight 8 received the Superior Airmanship Award from the Airline Pilot's Association. Their heroism was acknowledged by President Ronald Reagan at a meeting in the White House. Captain James Gibson eventually retired from Reeve and professional flying. He died in 2010. An inquiry that was launched into the near disaster was unable to come up with any conclusion as to why the propeller on engine 4 broke off. To this day, the cause is still unknown.

Every day, millions of people board planes for the purpose of travel. By now it is so routine that many people have forgotten the amount of responsibility given to those who are responsible for their safety. The way I see it, the crew of Reeve Aleutian Flight 8 is a great example of of those who put their lives on the line to transport people by air. They encountered a severe problem that put themselves and their passengers in grave danger. And through a combination of skill and courage they worked the problem and managed to save their passengers and their aircraft. I believe that they should be regarded as some of the greatest heroes in history.

https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19830608-2

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19830610&id=w5FTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=A4cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6652,1177269&hl=en

https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Reeve%20Aleutian%20Airways%20Flight%208