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Sioux City remembers crash of jetliner 30 years ago today

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July 19th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Thirty years ago today (Friday), a United Airlines D-C-10 jetliner crashed-landed in Sioux City and killed 112 people, though more than 180 survived. Flight 232 was headed from Denver to Chicago on July 19th, 1989 when it had a hydraulic failure. In this file tape, Captain Al Haynes is heard talking with an air traffic controller:

The plane crashed while trying to land at Sioux Gateway Airport, tumbled down the runway on fire and ended up in a cornfield. Larry Finley, executive director of the Mid America Museum of Aviation and Transportation in Sioux City, says many still honor the lives lost and the quick response of disaster services personnel.

Finley says 30 years later, there’s a heightened awareness about aircraft equipment, but some critics are still waiting for changes — like requiring child safety seats on planes.

Sioux City is marking the anniversary of the Flight 232 crash at the museum today (Friday).

(Thanks to Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)