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Air Disasters #1
The Flight 981 Disaster: Tragedy, Treachery, and the Pursuit of Truth
On June 12, 1972, a powerful explosion rocked American Airlines Flight 96 a mere five minutes after its takeoff from Detroit. The explosion ripped a gaping hole in the bottom of the aircraft and jammed the hydraulic controls. Miraculously, despite the damage and ensuing chaos, the pilots were able to land the plane safely. Less than two years later, on March 3, 1974, a sudden, forceful blowout tore through Turk Hava Yollari (THY) Flight 981 from Paris to London. THY Flight 981 was not as lucky as Flight 96; it crashed in a forest in France, and none of the 346 people onboard survived. What caused the mysterious explosions? How were they linked? Could they have been prevented? The Flight 981 Disaster addresses these questions and many more, offering a fascinating insiders' look at two dramatic aviation disasters.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 3, 2017
67 people are currently reading
367 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 1, 2018
Well-researched and interesting to read. This book looks at, and compares, two plane incidents that mirrored one another in every way except the ultimate outcome. Both involve the same plane: DC-10s, made by the McDonnell Douglas company.
The Windsor Incident, American Airlines Flight 96, occurred first. The cargo door of the DC-10s was made poorly, such that the latching system often didn’t latch properly. Accordingly, it blew out on a flight in 1972 over Windsor, Ontario, decompressing the plane. The plane was very lightly loaded, and the pilots were able to safely land it.
Just two years later, in 1974, the Ermenonville disaster (named for Ermenonville Forest, France) occurred. The same kind of plane as in the Windsor Incident, the DC-10, had the exact same problem with the exact same door, this time over rural France. The flight, Turkish Airlines Flight 981, was going from Istanbul to London. Unfortunately, this time, the flight was heavily loaded, and the plane crashed, killing all 346 people on board.
That’s right. Nobody had bothered to fix the planes, or ground all DC-10s, in the interim.
Don’t read this one if you’re planning on flying soon. You start to realize how easily and how often things can go wrong on airplanes, even though they’re the safest way to travel. That statistic seems to be more happy accident than anything else.
More importantly, it hits you how many people disregard serious safety issues because it’s inconvenient, expensive, or makes a company look bad. Government officials, private individuals, airlines, airplane manufacturers. They had been warned that DC-10s were unsafe, especially after the Windsor Incident. All of them had to look the other way, quite intentionally, for the Ermenonville disaster to happen. The optics and the cost were weighed, and they ultimately beat out the lives of over three hundred people in importance.
And we put our lives in the hands of these people and others like them every day.
The Windsor Incident, American Airlines Flight 96, occurred first. The cargo door of the DC-10s was made poorly, such that the latching system often didn’t latch properly. Accordingly, it blew out on a flight in 1972 over Windsor, Ontario, decompressing the plane. The plane was very lightly loaded, and the pilots were able to safely land it.
Just two years later, in 1974, the Ermenonville disaster (named for Ermenonville Forest, France) occurred. The same kind of plane as in the Windsor Incident, the DC-10, had the exact same problem with the exact same door, this time over rural France. The flight, Turkish Airlines Flight 981, was going from Istanbul to London. Unfortunately, this time, the flight was heavily loaded, and the plane crashed, killing all 346 people on board.
That’s right. Nobody had bothered to fix the planes, or ground all DC-10s, in the interim.
Don’t read this one if you’re planning on flying soon. You start to realize how easily and how often things can go wrong on airplanes, even though they’re the safest way to travel. That statistic seems to be more happy accident than anything else.
More importantly, it hits you how many people disregard serious safety issues because it’s inconvenient, expensive, or makes a company look bad. Government officials, private individuals, airlines, airplane manufacturers. They had been warned that DC-10s were unsafe, especially after the Windsor Incident. All of them had to look the other way, quite intentionally, for the Ermenonville disaster to happen. The optics and the cost were weighed, and they ultimately beat out the lives of over three hundred people in importance.
And we put our lives in the hands of these people and others like them every day.
March 12, 2019
Overall, a gripping account of a tragic event , its causes and consequences. Well researched and written. I considered 5 stars but for a couple of annoyances. First there are a number of technical errors, e.g. the F4 Phantom did not serve in Korea nor was it the first carrier based Naval fighter. Second, the book would really have benefited from photos. Not gore monger crash photos, but technical pictures to help the reader, many of whom may not be schooled in aviation, get a clearer picture of the events surrounding the Flight 981 tragedy. I, for one, would have appreciated a schematic of the cargo door latching mechanism to better understand the underlying issue. How about a map? A picture of the memorial? Or some photos of the victims who are discussed to lend a more personal component to the account? A photo of a DC-10 since there are many readers that can’t visualize it?
Regardless, a poignant read and one that I would recommend.
Regardless, a poignant read and one that I would recommend.
August 9, 2017
On Sunday, March 3, 1974, Turkish Airlines flight #981, departing Paris/Orly Airport on a routine flight to London/Heathrow, fell from the sky soon after takeoff. The plane crashed into a forest called Ermenonville and 346 "souls" - crew and passengers - lay scattered in tiny pieces, amid the detritus of the DC10 which had carried them to their deaths. That plane had crashed because a cargo door had come loose during the take-off, causing an explosive decompression, which collapsed part of the floor, severing most of the hydraulics needed in flying the plane. In her book, "The Flight 981 Disaster: Tragedy, Treachery, and the Pursuit of Truth", author Samme Chittum tells why those poor souls needn't have died that day.
The same accident had happened on an American Airlines DC10 in 1972, on a flight which had just taken off from Detroit , heading to Buffalo. The pilots felt a bang, part of the passenger floor collapsed, severing the hydraulics, and the plane was almost uncontrollable. Luckily, the flight's captain, wary about the DC10, had taken extra instructions in how to fly an uncontrolled plane, and he and the copilot, were able to steer the plane and make a controlled crash landing at Detroit. No one was killed that day, but the FAA looked at what had caused the incident. They found that the rear cargo door was not always locking and there was very little way to determine from the outside if the baggage handlers had the door latch in place. The FAA made several suggestions to the manufacturer of the place - McDonnell Douglas - as well as to the carriers who already had bought the plane, as to how to fix the latch mechanism. Because of...politics, or corporate worry about the costs to the upgrades, or sheer incompetence, many of the "suggestions" were not implemented on some of the planes. On plane #29, which crashed in March, 1974, the lack of fixing the problems with the door and the vents, resulted in the deaths of 346 people.
In addition to looking at the two crashes attributable to the cargo door problems, Chittum writes about two other fatal crashes of DC10's. One was in Chicago in 1979 - Memorial Day weekend - when American's #191, departing on a routine flight to Los Angeles, crashed into a field at the airport, killing all 271 passengers and crewmembers, plus two people on the ground. The problem was not the cargo door; rather, the left wing engine fell off during take off, sending the plane into the field. (This particular crash was important to me because I was a corporate travel agent in Chicago and often had clients on that flight - "the mid-afternoon American to LAX", though thanks god, none on the flight that day.) Chittum also looks at the United DC10 crash landing at the Sioux City airport in 1989, which resulted from the "catastrophic failure of the tail engine". Many passengers made it out of the plane alive, but 111 died.
Samme Chittum has written a fairly short book about a plane - the DC10 - which was both badly built - "a place put together by committee" - and further suffered in an atmosphere of lax corporate compliance with the government agencies charged with keeping the flying public in the safest machines possible. The DC10 flew its last passenger flight in 2014. It is now flying only cargo.
The same accident had happened on an American Airlines DC10 in 1972, on a flight which had just taken off from Detroit , heading to Buffalo. The pilots felt a bang, part of the passenger floor collapsed, severing the hydraulics, and the plane was almost uncontrollable. Luckily, the flight's captain, wary about the DC10, had taken extra instructions in how to fly an uncontrolled plane, and he and the copilot, were able to steer the plane and make a controlled crash landing at Detroit. No one was killed that day, but the FAA looked at what had caused the incident. They found that the rear cargo door was not always locking and there was very little way to determine from the outside if the baggage handlers had the door latch in place. The FAA made several suggestions to the manufacturer of the place - McDonnell Douglas - as well as to the carriers who already had bought the plane, as to how to fix the latch mechanism. Because of...politics, or corporate worry about the costs to the upgrades, or sheer incompetence, many of the "suggestions" were not implemented on some of the planes. On plane #29, which crashed in March, 1974, the lack of fixing the problems with the door and the vents, resulted in the deaths of 346 people.
In addition to looking at the two crashes attributable to the cargo door problems, Chittum writes about two other fatal crashes of DC10's. One was in Chicago in 1979 - Memorial Day weekend - when American's #191, departing on a routine flight to Los Angeles, crashed into a field at the airport, killing all 271 passengers and crewmembers, plus two people on the ground. The problem was not the cargo door; rather, the left wing engine fell off during take off, sending the plane into the field. (This particular crash was important to me because I was a corporate travel agent in Chicago and often had clients on that flight - "the mid-afternoon American to LAX", though thanks god, none on the flight that day.) Chittum also looks at the United DC10 crash landing at the Sioux City airport in 1989, which resulted from the "catastrophic failure of the tail engine". Many passengers made it out of the plane alive, but 111 died.
Samme Chittum has written a fairly short book about a plane - the DC10 - which was both badly built - "a place put together by committee" - and further suffered in an atmosphere of lax corporate compliance with the government agencies charged with keeping the flying public in the safest machines possible. The DC10 flew its last passenger flight in 2014. It is now flying only cargo.
January 10, 2025
Turkish Airlines Flight 981 departed from Istanbul on a scheduled flight to London. This flight also included a stopover in Paris. The plane was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10. The plane was carrying 335 passengers and 11 crew members. An incorrectly secured cargo door opened during the flight, causing an explosive decompression situation. The issue with the cargo door was a known issue, one that had previously caused another crash. A remedy was found for this, and documents stated that this was applied to Flight 981...but it had not been. The plane crashed into the Ermenonville Forest in Oise, France. The speed of the plane at impact was approximately 487 miles per hour. There were no survivors, with only 188 bodies being visually identifiable. This crash was the first to exceed 200 deaths. This crash also holds the title of being the deadliest plane crash in France, the deadliest DC-10 crash, and the deadliest single-aircraft accident with no survivors. As you can imagine, there were lawsuits and investigations aplenty after this crash, AS THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN. Accidents happen, nothing is 100% safe, but people should be held responsible for not doing their jobs, fixing problems, or creating a safe environment for the public they serve.
This crash was featured on an episode of Mayday, and this episode also featured a similar story of American Airlines Flight 96, which had the same issue with the cargo door. This book was well researched. There are three books in this Air Disasters series, and I have one left to go. If you are interested in aviation and aviation disasters, I recommend checking out this author.
This crash was featured on an episode of Mayday, and this episode also featured a similar story of American Airlines Flight 96, which had the same issue with the cargo door. This book was well researched. There are three books in this Air Disasters series, and I have one left to go. If you are interested in aviation and aviation disasters, I recommend checking out this author.
August 17, 2017
Author Samme Chittum does an exceptional job telling the story of McDonnell Douglas DC-10 jets that lost their cargo doors after takeoff. The door latches were defectively designed. Moreover, when that problem was discovered; after a highly skilled, specially trained American Airlines captain named Bryce McCormick saved his plane and passengers in 1972; McDonnell Douglas did only band-aid fixes in hopes of saving money. The FAA went along with those questionable fixes, according to Ms. Chittum, because the head of the organization was a political appointee, also mostly concerned with the profits of the airline industry.
What resulted from all this corporate greed and FAA incompetency, was the horrific 1974 Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crash that killed almost 350 passengers and crew members. When the cargo door blew off that time, six passengers were immediately sucked out of the plane and fell two miles to the ground below. Everyone else perished when the plane landed in trees in a forest in France. McDonnell Douglas had to pay the piper that time, but there were still future crashes due to how the DC-10's hydraulic system was designed, plus other structural things.
Ms. Chittum not only looks at the technical problems involved and the cover-ups, but also at those who tried to get changes made to the jets before disasters happened, and at those who were affected by losing family members and friends on the doomed Flight 981. It’s truly all-around exceptional storytelling and reporting; as well as a perfect general public type book, that educates the reader about so many aspects of the airline industry. Read this book when you can, but don’t read it on a plane.
(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)
What resulted from all this corporate greed and FAA incompetency, was the horrific 1974 Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crash that killed almost 350 passengers and crew members. When the cargo door blew off that time, six passengers were immediately sucked out of the plane and fell two miles to the ground below. Everyone else perished when the plane landed in trees in a forest in France. McDonnell Douglas had to pay the piper that time, but there were still future crashes due to how the DC-10's hydraulic system was designed, plus other structural things.
Ms. Chittum not only looks at the technical problems involved and the cover-ups, but also at those who tried to get changes made to the jets before disasters happened, and at those who were affected by losing family members and friends on the doomed Flight 981. It’s truly all-around exceptional storytelling and reporting; as well as a perfect general public type book, that educates the reader about so many aspects of the airline industry. Read this book when you can, but don’t read it on a plane.
(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)
December 15, 2019
This was a very interesting read detailing the string of incidents relating to poor design of the DC-10 cargo bay door that culminated in the tragedy that was Flight 981. It's thoroughly researched with evidence from first hand accounts, as well as a history of the manufacturer. I've seen several documentaries about this disaster, so the cause did not come as a surprise to me, but this book goes a long way to explain the slight of hand McDonnell Douglas tried to play knowing full well there was a fault with the door design. The families of the victims must still be haunted by the lack of public exposure at the time. This is what happens when big business puts profit over safety, especially when mixed in with a tight deadline imposed by competition. And then when authorities designed to protect the public are complicit in back room agreements, that makes everything doubly galling. Read this if you like to go behind the scenes and see why things happen the way they do. Perhaps by reading, we come to know the victims of the disaster and help ensure their memory, and senseless death, is not forgotten.
November 21, 2025
A waste of time. I was promised "a second-by-second chronicle of the crash, cockpit recordings, eyewitness interviews, official reports and accounts from those closest to the accident investigation" and I got a brief retelling of the events and a shitload of information about how cargo airplane doors lock.
This book was interesting up to the 100 page point. The retelling of events was thrilling but in a "oh i cant believe this happened way" because any other way would be sadistic. However, as soon as it became a lesson on how airplanes work, I lost interest.
I felt like this could have used some more focused editing, because there was just an overload of information which I found derivative or extremely loosely related to the book's topic, or a different synopsis because had I known I would be getting a lesson on the mechanics of air travel, and random trivia about key figures of 20th century aero science, I would have passed on this one.
This book was interesting up to the 100 page point. The retelling of events was thrilling but in a "oh i cant believe this happened way" because any other way would be sadistic. However, as soon as it became a lesson on how airplanes work, I lost interest.
I felt like this could have used some more focused editing, because there was just an overload of information which I found derivative or extremely loosely related to the book's topic, or a different synopsis because had I known I would be getting a lesson on the mechanics of air travel, and random trivia about key figures of 20th century aero science, I would have passed on this one.
May 2, 2025
A dry, informative read for air crash armchair scholars
Mr Chittum clearly paints the picture of the near miss and the complete disaster—no small feat, that. Unfortunately, he doesn’t keep that momentum in the chapters detailing the cause and the coverup. Instead of crafting a powerful indictment of McDonnell Douglas and the FAA, Chittum relates much of the story in the passive voice. To wit, “Meetings were held and ideas were discussed. Arguments were made for more venting in the floors, but those were rejected as impractical. Rerouting the hydraulic cables to the ceiling was also considered and rejected.” One cannot tell a compelling tale in the passive voice.
Mr Chittum clearly paints the picture of the near miss and the complete disaster—no small feat, that. Unfortunately, he doesn’t keep that momentum in the chapters detailing the cause and the coverup. Instead of crafting a powerful indictment of McDonnell Douglas and the FAA, Chittum relates much of the story in the passive voice. To wit, “Meetings were held and ideas were discussed. Arguments were made for more venting in the floors, but those were rejected as impractical. Rerouting the hydraulic cables to the ceiling was also considered and rejected.” One cannot tell a compelling tale in the passive voice.
September 12, 2017
I would love to imagine that the discovery of the mistakes made that led to the Flight 981 disaster resulted in a whole new way of designing aircraft, maintaining aircraft, and enforcing compliance with safety directives. But I have no evidence or illusions that any of the things that happened back in the early 1970s could not happen again today. It's not all doom and gloom -- the book also describes the heroism and dedication of many aviation professionals to safety. It's a fascinating description of the events and the people behind the events.
March 28, 2018
I enjoy books about flying. I know all about lift but it still amazes me that planes that big (DC-10) can fly. This book is about putting profits over safety. When accountants over rule engineers. The same thing happened with the electric companies (I worked for an electric company) with disastrous results.
October 21, 2019
3.5 stars. Chittum presents the facts of Flight 981's disastrous end in a way that makes even the technical and mechanical details accessible to an aviation layman. She manages to to make the story engaging and humanizes the tragedy without relying on cloying sentimentality. An worthwhile read for anyone interested in aviation disasters.
July 9, 2020
This author does a great job of telling the story of the crash plus all the other stories that surround it, before and after. Poignant at times but never sugary or overly sentimental, this book had all the factual info I absolutely crave. If you find this subject matter of interest then I highly recommend it (though perhaps not a good choice for in-flight reading...)
Happy travels my friends :D
Happy travels my friends :D
May 1, 2021
Good book, I wished that pictures were included. Little annoyed by the author using "electronic" instead of "electric" in reference to how the cargo door operated. Too bad that so much corruption was involved in this. I used to work for the company although in a completely different area.
May 3, 2024
Essentially the written version of the Air Disasters episode, with some more details given about the negligence of engineers. Gave it an extra star for the witty comments written on the pages by a library patron who who I assume was a pilot.
April 3, 2023
One of the few books that I could not stop reading. It is a very well researched, detailed description of the events. Amazing job!
August 18, 2024
Non fiction, gritty at times but a fantastic accounting of the life of the disastrous DC 10.
July 29, 2025
Story of a terrible disaster that reminds us of the importance of giving regulatory agencies the power to ensure that corporations are following the rules they give them.
January 2, 2024
Reading about plane and naval disasters consistently fascinates me, so I've read a number of such books. This one stands out as one of the best written and most engaging. Chittum does a thorough job looking at not just the crash but the circumstances surrounding it: the fateful decisions that caused the accident, the investigation afterwards, and finally the legal proceedings. Each stage of the story is its own gripping saga. Although Flight 981 crashed many years ago, I found it hauntingly similar to the more recent Boeing 737 Max crashes. Technology advances, but human nature and the nature of capitalism remains the same.
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