Preview

Lee Campbell Flight 811 Investigation

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2574 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Lee Campbell Flight 811 Investigation
Lee Campbell Flight 811 Investigation
Anthony Vallido
Aviation Safety 409 Abstract United Airlines Flight 811 left Honolulu bound for Auckland, New Zealand on February 24, 1989. A few minutes in the flight the cargo doors blew out and because of the decompression, nine passengers were immediately sucked out of the plane. The debris from the cargo door damaged the planes Number 3 and 4 engines. Captain David Cronin prepared for an emergency landing. The parents of one of the fatalities, Lee Campbell, investigated the accident because they want to know what caused the cargo door to open in midair. Kevin and Susan Campbell were very persistent and relentless in their fight to prove that the cause of the cargo door opening is a malfunction in the electrical system of the locking mechanism. It would take them a few years and spend their own money just to prove their theory and prevent future accidents from happening. Their persistence paid off when the NTSB finally issued a report stating what the Campbell’s have been campaigning all along.

Introduction On February 24, 1989, United Airlines Flight 811 took off from Honolulu bound for New Zealand. The flight carried 337 passengers, 3 flight crew and 15 flight attendants. The pilots were Captain David Cronin, First Officer Al Slader and Flight Engineer Mark Thomas. After the plane has been in the air for16 minutes, the passengers heard a grinding sound followed by a loud thud which shook the aircraft. A few seconds later the cargo door blew out and the passengers right beside it were immediately ejected out of the airplane. One of the passengers was Lee Campbell. Engines number 3 and 4 were severely damaged from the debris that came from the cargo door that blew off. The debris also damaged the planes right wing LED (Leading Edge Devices) and dented the horizontal stabilizers on that side. Captain Cronin ordered Flight Engineer Thomas to tell the crew to prepare for emergency landing, however he was not able



References: McKarcher, S. (2004). Ual 811 20 years later. Airline Crew, Retrieved from http://www.airlinecrew.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?209818-UAL-811-20-Years-Later Baehr, B. (2011). Victim 's parents absolve hawaii man of role in air disaster. Hawaii News Now, Retrieved from http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/15002555/victims-parents-absolve-hawaii-man-of-role-in-air-disaster (n.d.). United airlines flight 811. Wikipedia, Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_811 Bridgeman, S. (2009, February 27). Flight 811: The untold story. Sunday Star times. Retrieved from http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/features/1400976/Flight-811-the-untold-story

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    United Airlines flight 175, sliced into the south tower of the World Trade Center, this was the moment that we realized the crash wasn’t an accident, America was under attack. United Flight…

    • 1452 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The pilot and ten boys appeared to be the victims of the plane crash. However, three more boys died on the island according to witness statements.” claimed the Naval Officer who had first spotted the boys on the island. The police had already contacted the families of those on the plane, out of the thirty-six passengers, twenty-two remain.…

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first of March, 1932, 9:00p.m. infant child Charles Lindbergh Jr was taken away from his nursery (“Lindbergh Kidnapping.”). Charles Jr., son of Charles A. Lindbergh, a historical aviator, was alive for twenty months, until he was found dead by an assistant, William Allen (“Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping.”). Amidst their search and rescue (before the infant’s demise was known), the Lindberghs were visited by Americans from all over that came and assisted in their time of desperation. The Lindbergh baby kidnapping not only influenced the Lindberghs, but also brought out sympathy that was thought to be missing in America at the time.…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Db Cooper

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In 1971a normal looking man in his mid 40s purchased a one way ticket from Portland Oregon to Seattle Washington under the name Dan Cooper. After the flight that consisted of 5 crew members, 37 passengers took to the air; the man passed a small note to one of the two flight attendants. Flo Schaffner the woman who received the note simply ignored it and gently slid it in her pocket thinking it was simple piece of paper with the man’s phone number on it. As she passed by again Cooper stopped her and said she needed to read the paper because there was some very important information on it. The day before Thanksgiving in 1971 in dreadful weather $200,000 in cash, two parachutes, and one unknown man disappeared and not even the FBI knows what happened.…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Lindbergh Baby Case

    • 1181 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Johnson, D. (2007). “Lindbergh Kidnapping Remembered: The Crime That Shocked the Nation.” Information Please website. Retrieved on August 31, 2014 from: http:// www.infoplease.com/spot/lindbergh1.html.…

    • 1181 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    On a windy winter night in 1932, a kidnapper crept onto the estate of Charles A. Lindbergh, climbed a homemade ladder, placed a ransom note on the window, and left with the baby of the most famous man in the world. The ransom was paid, but the child was found months later, dead in the woods near the house. A two year hunt for the murderer ensued. Arrested and charged was 35-year-old Bronx carpenter Bruno Richard Hauptmann. The purpose of this paper is to research what really went down during the crime of the century. Was all the evidence looked at? Were all the leads followed? Was the question correctly answered? Did Bruno Hauptmann really kidnap little Charles Lindbergh Jr.? It was an event that author H.L. Mencken called “The greatest story…

    • 1346 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Facts. On the morning of August 31, 1986, Theresa Estrada left her home near Cerritos, California, to go shopping at a nearby grocery store. She left her husband at home reading the newspaper, and her three children were still in bed. Returning from the store, Estrada saw, heard, and felt a big explosion. Within minutes, she maneuvered her way through burning homes, cars, and debris to find her home engulfed in flames. Her husband and children died in the house. Although she did not know it at the time, an Aeromexico passenger airplane had crashed into her home after colliding with a privately owned plane. Estrada suffered severe emotional distress from the incident. She sued for the wrongful death of her family. Aeromexico was found not responsible for the accident. The jury found the private pilot 50 percent liable, and the United States 50 percent liable because air traffic controllers had failed to detect the private plane's intrusion into commercial airspace and give a traffic advisory to the Aeromexico flight. The jury awarded Estrada $5.5 million for the death of her family and $1 million for negligent infliction of emotional distress. The U.S. government appealed the $500,000 judgment against it for negligent infliction of emotional distress.…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sometimes even the most famous and gifted people on earth are caught in their own predicament. Charles Augustus Lindbergh Sr. born February 4, 1902, became the first aviator to fly across the waves of the Atlantic ocean. However, on Tuesday, March 1st even the most famous man on earth was shaken. When Charles Lindbergh's son Charles Lindbergh Jr. was kidnapped, the entire country became terrorized by the event. The baby was found days later, dead, in the wood, which turned the possible kidnapping into a murder case. However, with no evidence or leads, the mystery remains unsolved to this day. As detectives continue to investigate, they all arrive at one conclusion, the kidnapping had to be committed by a person in Lindbergh household. By examining…

    • 160 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over 3000 people died in this tragic event including the firefighters and the people on the flights…

    • 230 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On Tuesday, September 11th, 2001, the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history occurred as four large passenger jets were hijacked then crashed, killing nearly 3,000 persons. The attack was carried out by four separate teams of terrorists from the Middle East, all operating from inside the U.S. Each team had boarded an early-morning flight, posing as passengers, then forcibly commandeered the aircraft. Two fully-fueled jumbo jets, American Airlines Flight 11 carrying 92 persons and United Airlines Flight 175 carrying 65 persons, had departed Boston for Los Angeles. Both jets were diverted by the hijackers to New York City where they were piloted by the terrorists themselves into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. The impact and subsequent fire caused both 110-story towers…

    • 3254 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It was unusually cold on this morning of September 11th, 2001, and my alarm had just went off. The odd but needed 5 am. was when I woke up, because my flight was going to leave around 8:30 and I needed to be there on time. The reason I was flying to San Francisco was I was having a family reunion with my dad, my step-mom, and my step-brothers. So, I jumped in the shower quickly with joy and excitement. I hadn't seen my family in forever since I had gotten a job as the assistant of the manager in Ralph Lauren Headquarters. I had just gotten my hair dried as I heard my phone ring. It was dad, making sure that I was on my way. I talked to him for a few minutes and then hung up. I glanced at the clock and realized…

    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Why Did You Kill Me?

    • 2033 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Hardesty, Von. "Triumph and Tragedy." Lindbergh: Flight 's Enigmatic Hero. Ed. Garrett W. Brown. 1st ed. San Diego: Tehabi, 2002. 123-26. Print.…

    • 2033 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Those above 99 say they saw the plane hit, fire is hitting the windows from the floors below, and the stairways are blocked by flame. 8:55. We hear screams in the stairwell, workers from floor 91 are flying down the stairs…burned, ladies with hair on fire, and men with charred faces. Chaos reigns in the after effect, people screaming and crying, confused and worried, most of all afraid. 8:57. I feel hands tugging at my arms, urging me to leave the floor, yet my eyes are glued to the tawny haired woman, with her face burned, shrapnel in her stomach, and her eyes forever closed, it’s a…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Flight 93

    • 1259 Words
    • 6 Pages

    On September 11, 2001, four people hijacked united airlines flight 93, I am going to inform you how the plane was hijacked, who some of the people on the flight were, and how they fought to save the White House without even knowing. We all know about the tragedy that occurred on 9.11, but do we really know what happened on flight 93. According to the movie United 93 "40 ordinary people sat down as strangers and stood up as one."…

    • 1259 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Crisis Management Tenerife

    • 7558 Words
    • 31 Pages

    The Tenerife Disaster is a well known event among the aviation industry for being the worst air accident in human history. A Dutch KLM 747 and an American Pan Am 747 crashed into each other at a Spanish airport in the Canary Islands resulted in 583 death and a extensive media coverage on the Dutch, American and Spanish subjects. The disaster was investigated and studied by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International…

    • 7558 Words
    • 31 Pages
    Powerful Essays