All 258 passengers and 13 crew members aboard American Airlines Flight 191 died when the DC-10 plane crashed on May 25, 1979, according to a National Transportation Safety Board accident report. Two men on the ground were also killed.
Those are the statistics, but we wanted to learn more about the people whose lives were lost that day. So we asked family members and friends to share their recollections. What follows below are their answers. For those whose families we haven’t yet heard from, we combed the Chicago Tribune and Newspapers.com archives for details.
[ Vintage Chicago Tribune: Remembering the 273 victims of American Airlines Flight 191 ]
A memorial to these victims was dedicated in 2011 at Lake Park in Des Plaines, less than 2 miles east of the crash site.
Have a story to add to this memorial? Please email krumore@chicagotribune.com.
From Casey Binstadt, daughter:
“He was traveling home from a business meeting in Chicago. It was his daughter’s 2nd birthday and he was flying standby. He left behind a wife, son and daughter, who remained in Los Angeles. While his presence was sorely missed, his personality always shone bright through his sister, Jodie Adams. Jodie, along with Jim’s brother, Tom, mother and father all lived in Springfield, Mo.”
From Alison Minet Adams, wife:
“Jeff and I met at Tufts University in 1969 and were married in 1971. We had 10 sweet years together … it wasn’t enough. He had been in Chicago on business and was…