(Radio Iowa) — Captain Al Haynes, the pilot of United Airlines flight 232 — which crashed in Sioux City in 1989, has died at the age of 87. Larry Finley, director of Sioux City’s Mid-American Air Museum, became friends with Haynes. Finley says Haynes loved Sioux City and the response he and the crew were given in the aftermath of the deadly crash. “He made that comment many times in our conversations,” Finley says. “He said, ‘You know, I’ve been to a lot of communities but I really feel at home with the friendliness and the compassion of the people in Sioux City. I never knew anything about Sioux City until we made this unannounced approach to your airport.'”

The D-C-10 had suffered complete hydraulic failure enroute from Denver to Chicago with 296 people on board. Haynes managed to guide the crippled airliner to Sioux Gateway Airport, where it crash landed as a fleet of ambulances and fire trucks waited at the scene. While 111 died in the fiery crash, 185 survived. Finley says Haynes never considered himself a hero and deeply regretted the loss of life in the crash. “That’s one of the reasons that every year, subsequent to the crash, the crew had its own reunion,” Finley says. “Captain Haynes explained to me that it was therapeutic for all of them because they all felt that somewhere in the back of their mind, they were all responsible.”

Without the perseverance of the crew, the outcome could have ended in greater loss of life, as no domestic airliner had ever experienced that type of catastrophe before. “Captain Haynes said that was the reason they made it to Sioux City and it was as successful as it was because individually, the four people in the cockpit had never experienced total hydraulic failure on an aircraft like that,” Finley says. “He says it was everybody having input into the final solution.”

With all hydraulics out, Haynes steered the plane by using the thrusters on the two remaining engines, one on each wing. Haynes died Sunday at a Seattle hospital. Funeral services are pending.

Officials with Scooter’s Coffee say concerns of the Atlantic Planning and Zoning Commission, with regard to a drive through/coffee kiosk site on east 7th Street, are without merit. In a letter to the Commission last week, Mike Michaelis, Scooter’s Vice President of Development, asks the Commission to unanimously approve a previously discussed site plan, which calls for the triangular entrance/exit to the U-S Cellar/Verizon & McDonald’s entrance, to be the access and exit routes for motor vehicle traffic. The P&Z will further review the site plan during their meeting 5:30-p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 27), in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall.

During their meeting August 13th, the Commission expressed concerns about traffic congestion to the access drive, as well as vehicle “queuing” (backup), in the drive. At that time, Scooter’s Construction Manager Dan Forsland said he would contact the Iowa DOT about having the turning lane be both east and westbound from the site, instead of the current westbound only.

Michaelis said in his letter, that the site, as proposed, is similar to their coffee kiosk site in Holdredge, Nebraska, and that vehicle stacking at that location averages 3-to 4 vehicles during peak traffic conditions. They estimate the peak traffic times for the Atlantic Scooter’s (If approved), would be between 7:45-to 8-a.m.

Michaelis said their landlord (East Atlantic Holdings, LLC., based in Urbandale), was not able to reach an agreement with neighboring property owners Oinker’s Lounge and Noddles Development Co., with regard to access from those properties.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A Dubuque man has pleaded guilty to taking estate money without permission and giving it to charities. The Telegraph Herald reports that 45-year-old Robert Young Jr. is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 21. He’d pleaded guilty after making a deal with prosecutors. Court documents say Young had been appointed personal administrator of the estate of Thomas Palmer, who died March 3, 2017, at the age of 58. The documents say Young paid off Palmer’s bills and then donated more than $31,500 to charities without a court’s permission.

Both the defense and prosecutors recommend in the plea agreement that Young be put on probation for two to five years and be given a deferred judgment. Under a deferred judgment, the theft conviction can be removed from his record if he successfully completes probation.