The Nation : 40,000 Honor Jet Crew, Rescue Workers in Sioux City

About 40,000 people turned out in Sioux City, Iowa, to honor flight and ground crews who brought in a disabled jumbo jet to the Sioux Gateway Airport and the emergency workers who helped rescue passengers. “This is unbelievable,” said Capt. Alfred C. Haynes, pilot of United Flight 232. “It’s like a continuation of everything they did July 19,” the day the DC-10 tumbled down the runway in an emergency landing, a crash in which 112 died but 184 survived. “We’re kind of overwhelmed by it,” said Haynes. “We didn’t expect this kind of attention. They are unbelievable. They are just great.” Crew members Dudley Dvorak and William Record and United training pilot Dennis Fitch were also on hand. It was the first time the crew had returned to Sioux City since they were released from local hospitals. The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team performed at the gathering.