Dallas, Aug. 81, Reuter — Thirteen people died but in what was called a miracle, attributable only to the hand of God, about 60 people walked away unharmed from the crash of a Delta Air Lines Boeing 727 at Dallas Fort Worth Airport on Wednesday.
Delta said 13 people died and 94 survived the crash seconds after takeoff of flight 1141 bound for Salt Lake City, Utah.
“What happened here and now so many people came out alive is beyond our comprehension,” said airport spokesman Joe Derley, “personally, I would attribute it to the hand of God.”
About 30 people were injured, mostly with burns and broken bones. The other 60 or so walked away unharmed from the crash at 9:04 am. (1504 GMT). Its cause was being investigated.
“I think it’s miraculous,” said Bill Whitman, administrator of Harris Methodist Hospital in Bedford, a Fort Worth suburb. He said of 64 people brought there, only three required surgery.
“It’s still amazing to me that many got out,” said airport safety worker Jim Hartman, who saw passengers leave the burning, smoking plane “screaming and hollering.”
The fuselage of the plane, broken into three pieces, came to rest within 15 feet (5 meters) of a chain link fense at the southern end of the airport runway. One charred wing tip poked through the fence. Chain links around it were also burnt.
The heaviest damage was in the charred tail section. The nose section of the plane was twisted to the left.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 9, 1988
