By Kate Thompson
Journal staff writer

Orville Thiele, who was the assistant Sioux City fire chief on duty July 19, 1989, was called to Sioux Gateway Airport before United Airlines Flight 232 crashed.

They knew the plane was in trouble, long before it crashed. As it circled the airport, Thiele and his driver, Chuck Hirsch, who is now a lieutenant with the Sioux City Fire Department, were parked on the overpass. The plane appeared to be coming in well over Southern Hills Mall.

"Then it cartwheeled," he said. "We knew he was all out of hydraulics. We figured we would have to look into the river for them."

Thiele said he thought he was calm and prepared, until he later heard recordings of himself on the radio.

"There was a big ball of flame," he said. "I really thought there would be a complete loss of life."

When he reached the field, however, he saw people coming out of the cornfields.

"You have planned pretty well but for those first few minutes; it's chaos until you reorganize yourself," he said. "We had most of the city services already on the field, ambulance, police, fire."

Staff from the Woodbury County Disaster Services Agency, the Sioux Gateway Crash-Fire-Rescue Station, the 185th Fighter Wing of the Iowa Air National Guard and numerous other agencies were also on hand, each knowing their job.

Thiele's job was at the staging area, making sure that the firefighters and other agencies had what they needed to battle the blaze, help the survivors and deal with the victims.

"I could not sleep," he said. "The night I came home, I must have been in a stupor. I was tired and I finally went to bed."

Thiele said he tried to put the experience behind him. It wasn't the worst thing he's ever seen; that came in Korea when he was a 17-year-old Marine.

While it might be easy to criticize how the disaster was handled later, he said he felt everyone did a tremendous job.

Thiele and his crew were checking for survivors, but not expecting to find any when they saw a mass of wires that turned out to be the cockpit.

"You would never think anybody in that mass of wires would survive," he said.

Capt. Al C. Haynes, the co-pilot and navigator were alive inside and rescued.

If such a disaster occurred again, Thiele is convinced emergency personnel would be even better equipped to deal with it.

"We have practical experience now," he said. "All the departments worked closely together."

Ten years later, Thiele is retired from the Sioux City Fire Department, a job he left in 1995. He and his wife still live in Sioux City most of the year and in Arizona during the winter.

By Lynn Zerschling
Journal staff writer

Whenever something happens at Los Angeles International Airport involving a disaster or a safety issue, George Lindblade gets a call.

"Every time they have an incident at LAX, they call and say they want three copies of "Alert 3' fed-exed to them," the noted Sioux City photographer and cinematographer said.

Ten years ago Lindblade produced "Alert 3: The Crash of Flight 232" as a training film to be used by rescue crews, firefighters, law enforcement officers and others involved in disaster response.

Lindblade said he always tells the callers from LAX the same thing -- they have copies of the video.

"They say, 'It's on our list of things to do. It's part of our protocol.' For all I know, those videos are falling into a black hole out there," he quipped.

Lindblade produced "Alert 3" as a training tool to show how disaster readiness and cooperative planning can make a difference when a community responds to a major disaster. The hour-long film shows what happened the afternoon of the crash, conversations between the pilots and air traffic controllers, film of the plane crashing at Sioux Gateway Airport, the rescue operations, how "trackers" were assigned to each body, the use of volunteers and other professionals, securing the wreckage, debriefings and interviews with key people.

The idea for the video came from Sioux City Fire Department training officer Terry Schmidt who suggested Lindblade put together a training film using material the Fire Department had collected.

Bill Turner, then vice president and general manager at KTIV-Channel 4, gave Lindblade permission to use the footage shot by KTIV photographer Dave Boxum of the airline crash-landing at the airport.

When no outside funding to produce the video became available, Lindblade, owner of G.R. Lindblade & Co., decided to charge $49 per tape. The fee helped defray expenses to make the video, the accompanying brochures and advertising.

"I guess we have sent anywhere from 6,000 to 8,000 copies of this around the world," Lindblade estimated.

The video not only was produced in English, but also in other languages and it even found its way to Communist countries.

Lindblade has sent the tape at no cost if the person or agency didn't have the money.

"The California Highway Patrol called us once and said they didn't have the $49 because it wasn't in their budget. We sent it to them anyway. They couldn't believe anybody would do that and they sent us the 49 bucks when they got the money.

"One of the first telephone calls I got was from the Chicago Fire Department who said the video was worth ten times what we were charging. It was not a case of trying to make money out of it. We were just trying to break even on the thing so any paramedic or volunteer firefighter could afford it."

Because so many copies of "Alert 3" were made, Lindblade said the master copy wore out. He digitally redid the video.

"Just two months ago, we finished a new video based on 'Alert 3' called 'Lessons Learned.' It has some of the people featured in the first video, plus interviews with new people on the things they have learned over the past decade on what they would have done differently."

One thing surprised Lindblade in producing the second video.

"It's uncanny. The people we've interviewed after ten years -- their stories are exactly the same," he noted.

"Lessons Learned" stresses the importance of stress management and stress debriefings following a disaster.

"We found out after ten years there have been a lot of divorces that were directly influenced by the effort that day. And, the fact that many still need to talk about it is kind of surprising."

The second video also includes some footage not used in the first one.

The television movie about the crash was based a great deal on that "Alert 3" video, Lindblade noted.

"I was told that had we not done that video tape, they never would have done the movie."

Ten years later he continues to receive requests for "Alert 3."

"I got a call the other day from Norway. Some rescue company there wanted it. And we just sent a tape to Littleton, Colo.," he said of the community where students were gunned down at Columbine High School.

Lindblade said the video is relevant today because the greater Sioux City community had planned so well for handling a disaster.

"This will be the standard and will continue to be until somebody comes up with something better."

And, he emphasized, the video is in demand because the community is perceived as handling the disaster in a professional and comprehensive way.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Here are excerpts from a tape of conversations among air traffic controllers at Minneapolis and Sioux City, Iowa, and the crew of a United Airlines DC-10 that crash-landed July 19 at Sioux City. Of the 296 people aboard Flight 232, 185 survived and 111 were killed. The tape, covering about 36 minutes of relevant interchanges, was released Friday by the Federal Aviation Administration.

3:23 p.m. CDT -- Minneapolis controllers to Sioux City controllers: Sioux City, got an emergency for you.

Sioux City: All right.

Minneapolis: I've got a United aircraft coming in, lost No. 2 engine, having a hard time controlling the aircraft right now. He's out of 29,000 right now and descending to Sioux City. Right now he's east of your VOR but he wants the equipment standing by right now. .... He's east 40 miles ....

Sioux City: Radar contact.

3:25 p.m. -- Minneapolis: Did you say you had a radar on United Airlines 232?

Sioux City: Affirmative radar.

Minneapolis: He's having a hard time controlling the plane right now and trying to slow down and get steady on a heading. As soon as I get comfortable, I'll ship him over to you and he'll be in your control.

Sioux City: All right.

3:26 p.m. -- UAL 232: Sioux City approach, United Airlines 232 Heavy (wide body), with you out of 26 (26,000 feet altitude). Heading right now is 290 and we've got about a 500-foot rate of descent. .... OK, so you know we have almost no control ability, very little elevator and almost no aileron. We are controlling the turns by power. ... We can only turn right, but we can't turn left.

Sioux City: United 232 Heavy, understand, sir, you can only make right turns.

3:27 p.m. -- Sioux City: United 232, ... your present track puts you about 8 miles north of the airport, sir, and the only way we can get you around to (runway) 31 is a slight left turn with differential power or, if you can, jockey it over.

UAL 232: OK, we're in a right turn now. That's about the only way we can go. We'll be able to make very slight left turns on final, but right now just going to make right turns to whatever heading you want.

3:29 p.m. -- Sioux City: United 232 Heavy, say souls on board and fuel remaining.

3:32 p.m. -- UAL 232: We have no hydraulic fluid, which means we have no elevator control, almost none, and very little aileron control. I have serious doubts about making the airport. Have you got some place near there that we might be able to ditch? Unless we get control of this airplane, we're going to put it down wherever it happens to be.

Sioux City: United 232, roger. Stand by.

3:36 p.m. -- Sioux City: And United 232 Heavy, did you get the souls on board count.

UAL 232: Stand by, tell you, right now we don't even have time to let go and call the gal ....

Sioux City: Roger.

UAL 232: Two hundred ninety-two souls on board United 232.

Sioux City: Roger, thank you.

3:43 p.m. -- UAL 232: United 232, we're going to have to continue one more right turn. We've got the elevators pretty much under control within 300 or 400 feet, but we still can't do much with the steering.

Sioux City: United 232 Heavy, roger, understand you do have the elevators possibly under control. Will you be able to hold the altitude?

UAL 232: Negative. We don't have it. We are better, that's all.

Sioux City: Roger.

3:46 p.m. -- UAL 232: OK, United 232, we're starting a left turn back to the airport. Since we have no hydraulics, braking is really going to be a problem. Ah, we suggest the equipment be toward the far end of the runway and I think under the circumstances, regardless of the condition of the airplane, when we stop, we're going to evacuate. So you might notify the ground crew equipment that we're going to do that.

Sioux City: United 232 Heavy, wilco sir, and if you can continue that left turn to a 220 heading, sir, that will take you right to the airport.

3:51 p.m. -- Sioux City: United 232 Heavy, you are going to have to widen out just slightly to your left, sir, to make the turn to final and also to take you away from the city.

UAL 232: Whatever you do, keep us away from the city.

3:53 p.m. -- Sioux City: United 232 Heavy, been advised there's a four-lane highway up in that area, sir, if you can pick that up.

UAL 232: OK, we'll see what we can do here. We've already put the gear down, and we're going to have to put it down on something solid if we can.

3:54 p.m. -- UAL 232: We've got about three or four minutes to go, it looks like.

Sioux City: United 232 Heavy, Roger. Can you pick up a road or something up there?

UAL 232: We're trying ....

3:55 p.m. -- Sioux City: United 232 Heavy, the airport is, oh, about 18 miles southeast of your position, about 220 on the heading. But we're going to need you southbound away from the city first, it you can hold a 180 heading.

UAL 232: We're trying to get to it right now .... OK, we're 180 degrees heading, now what do you want?

3:56 p.m. -- Sioux City: ... That heading will put you, oh, currently 15 miles northeast of the airport. If you can hold that, it will put you on about three-mile final.

UAL 232: OK, we're giving it heck.

3:57 p.m. -- Sioux City: United 232 Heavy, the airport's currently 12 o'clock and 13 miles.

UAL: OK, we're looking for it.

Sioux City: Ah, United 232 Heavy, if you cannot make the airport, sir, there is an interstate that runs north to south to the east side of the airport. It's a four-lane interstate.

3:58 p.m. -- UAL: We're just passing it right now. We're going to try for the airport.

Sioux City: United 232 Heavy, roger, and advise when you get the airport in sight.

UAL 232: Have runway in sight. We'll be with you very shortly. Thanks a lot for your help.

Sioux City: United 232 Heavy, the wind is currently 360 at one one (11 knots) .... You're cleared to land on any runway.

UAL 232: (Laughter) You want to be particular and make it a runway, huh?

Sioux City: ... There is a runway that's closed, sir, that could probably work, too. It runs northeast to southwest.

UAL: We're pretty much lined up on this one, or we think we will be.

3:59 p.m. -- Sioux City: United 232 Heavy, roger sir. That closed runway will work, sir. We're getting the equipment off the runway and they'll line up for that one.

UAL 232: How long is it?

Sioux City: 6,600 feet, and the equipment is coming off. (Thirteen seconds elapse.) At the end of the runway, it's just a wide open field, so, sir, the length won't be a problem.

By Capt. Todd Beer

89th Airlift Wing Safety Office

Members of the 89th Airlift Wing were treated to a very special presentation at the base theater Monday. Al Haynes, captain of United Airlines flight 232 that crashed in Sioux City, Iowa, was the guest speaker at the wing safety meeting.

In a stirring scene, Haynes recounted his thoughts and actions in the minutes prior to the crash while video of the crash played in the background. The primary focus of the speech, however, was teamwork.

Flight 232 crashed on July 19, 1989. A catastrophic engine failure crippled all primary flight controls, forcing the crew to improvise a means to control the airplane. The four members of the cockpit crew called on over 103 years of combined flying experience to find that the operating engines were their only hope for maneuvering the enormous craft. Using only the throttles to turn, the cockpit crew struggled with a marginally controllable airplane as they searched for an airport.

Haynes credits the teamwork of several groups for making what at first appeared to be a non-survivable accident into one in which most of those aboard survived. The cockpit crew's actions have received the most attention, but in true heroic fashion, Haynes emphasized the actions of others more than his own.

He praised the flight attendants for preparing the panicked passengers for the crash. He praised the air traffic controllers for their calm and professional handling. He praised the passengers for their selflessness and bravery during the evacuation following the crash. And finally, he praised the hundreds of emergency response personnel on the ground in Sioux City who reacted so quickly to the accident. The teamwork and quick thinking of each of these groups, according to Haynes, were primary factors contributing to the survivability of the crash.

He closed the presentation emphasizing the importance of preparing for major accidents. There is no time to train during a crisis and the lives of those in an accident depend on the rapid deployment of well prepared people.

Ironically, less than a year before the crash, the Sioux City emergency response team ran an exercise that simulated an accident at the airport very much like the actual crash of flight 232. Haynes believes the lessons learned during the exercise saved the lives of many passengers.