–6 AP. “‘Where is the crash site?’ New signs point to Lynyrd Skynyrd monument…” 11-18-2020.
Sources
Associated Press. “‘Where is the crash site?’ New signs point to Lynyrd Skynyrd monument in Mississippi.” Clarion Ledger, MS, 11-18-2020. Accessed 9-27-2021 at: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2020/11/18/lynyrd-skynyrd-crash-site-mississippi-new-exit-signs-interstate-55/6335258002/
–10 Ferrara, Grace M. (Ed.) The Disaster File: The 1970s. 1979, p. 51.
–10 Naples Daily News, FL. “19 Are Killed on Highways.” 10-3-1977, p. 10.
–10 Naples Daily News, FL. “Death Truck Driver Had Been Drinking.” 10-7-1977, p. 9.
–10 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. FARS 1975-2010 Fatality Analysis.
–10 Palm Beach Post, FL. “Board: Truck Driver at Fault in Train Crash.” 12-8-1978, p. D14.
–10 Panama City News-Herald, FL. “Crash That Killed Ten Under Investigation.” 10-4-1977.
–10 Panama City News-Herald, FL. “Driver Reported Under Influence.” 10-30-1977, p. 2.
–10 Playground Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, FL. “10 in Pickup Die in Crash.” 10-3-1977, 1
Narrative Information
Oct 3, Assoc. Press in Naples Daily News: “Associated Press. The deaths of 10 people in a train-truck accident late Sunday [Oct 2] pushed Florida’s weekend death toll to at least 19, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Troopers said there were no survivors in the pickup truck that was shoved half-a-mile from a Plant City crossing by a St. Petersburg-bound Amtrak train. The identities of the victims, including seven children, were not immediately known….No one aboard the train was injured.” (Naples Daily News, FL. “19 Are Killed on Highways.” 10-3-1977, p. 10.)
Oct 3, United Press International: “Plant City, Fla. (UPI) — A Chicago-to-St. Petersburg Amtrak passenger train rammed at high speed into a pickup truck whose driver ignored warning signals Sunday night, killing at least 10 persons in a flaming crash, police authorities reported. Four of the bodies, including those of two children, were found in the charred remains of the truck. They were burned beyond recognition, said Florida Highway Patrol Trooper G. B. Sullivan.” (Playground Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, FL. “10 in Pickup Die in Crash.” 10-3-1977, p. 1.)
Oct 4, Associated Press: “Plant City, Fla. (AP) — Federal accident investigators probed the site Monday where a collision between a passenger train and a pickup-camper claimed the lives of the 10 persons jammed into the truck. The tragedy brought to 379 the number of people killed in crossing accidents around the state since 1972.
“While members of the National Transportation Safety Board met with railroad officials and train crewmen to reconstruct the accident, medical and police personnel teamed at Tampa General Hospital to identify the men, women and children killed in the Sunday night wreck. It is believed there were seven young children and three adults, but the bodies were badly mutilated and charred. The victims were thought to be migrant workers from Florida and Texas. Plant City Sgt. Ruff in Cain said the identities of four of the victims was known by midday Monday but were being withheld until all victims had been identified.” (Panama City News-Herald, FL. “Crash That Killed Ten Under Investigation.” 10-4-1977, p. 10.)
Oct 7, Associated Press: “Plant City, Fla. (AP) – The driver of a pickup truck that was hit by a train had been drinking before the crash that killed 10 persons, federal investigators say. Marilyn Roberge, 26, a professional long distance driver, was at the wheel Sunday night when the camper-truck was rammed by an Amtrak passenger train traveling about 70 miles an hour, killing all occupants of the truck. The burning vehicle was shoved a half mile down the tracks.
“Warning lights at the crossing were operating at the time, police said.
“Mrs. Roberge had been partying much of the day and consumed a large quantity of beer before the accident, said James Sutton, a safety specialist with the National Transportation Safety Board which is investigating the accident. Sutton said he was told that by Ruth Allen, 39, who was in the vehicle before the crash. Mrs. Roberge and nine others had driven Mrs. Allen and her teen-age daughter, Karen, home to their trailer here and were headed back to Dade City when the crash occurred. The adults had been partying at the home of Mrs. Roberge’s mother… ‘Marilyn drove real well, not over 55 miles an hour to Plant City,’ Mrs. Allen said in a written statement to federal examiners.
“Mrs. Roberge had at least seven beers and refused some coffee before leaving the Allen home that night, Mrs. Allen told the St. Petersburg Times. Mrs. Roberge was still drinking beer till minutes before the crash, she said. ‘When we got to my house I made a pot of coffee,’ Mrs. Allen said. ‘I asked Marilyn if she wanted some. She said, ‘Hell no, I don’t want no coffee as long as I’ve got beer,’ the Times quoted Mrs. Allen in a copyrighted story….” (Naples Daily News, FL. “Death Truck Driver Had Been Drinking.” 10-7-1977, p. 9.)
Oct 30, Associated Press: “Tampa, Fla. (AP) – The driver of a truck that collided with a train killing 10 persons was definitely under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident, according to the Hillsborough County medical examiner. Dr. Peter Lardizabal said that blood samples from Marilyn Roberge, 28, of Dade City, showed the woman’s blood alcohol level was .14 per cent the night of the fatal wreck outside Plant City. ‘If an individual weighing 160 pounds drank seven ounces of 100-proof whiskey’ his blood alcohol level would come to .14 per cent, Lardizabal said Friday. The report corroborates testimony given shortly after the wreck by acquaintances of Mrs. Roberge that she had been drinking large quantities of beer before the accident Oct. 2.” (Panama City News-Herald, FL. “Driver Reported Under Influence.” 10-30-1977, p. 2.)
Dec 8, Associated Press: “Washington (AP) – A federal safety board yesterday blamed the driver of a pickup truck, who was under the influence of alcohol for a truck-train collision that killed 10 persons in Florida last year.
“The National Transportation Safety Board also urged appropriate state and federal agencies to act to cut down on the high number of railroad grade crossing accidents that occur along a 240-mile corridor between Jacksonville and Tampa.
“The board report said the 28-year-old woman driver had plenty of time to stop after crossing lights began flashing and the Amtrak train horn sounded but instead proceeded onto the track and was hit broadside….The accident…involved Amtrak’s Floridian, on the final leg of its Chicago-to-St. Petersburg run….
“The board determined the probable cause of the accident ‘was the failure of the pickup truck driver, who was under the influence of alcohol, to stop short of the railroad tracks in response to the warnings’.’ It said an autopsy determined the driver had a blood alcohol level of .14 percent. The Florida traffic code states that a level of .10 or more is prima facie evidence of driving while under the influence of alcohol. The woman, who was not identified in the report, also was driving on a suspended chauffeur’s license, the board said….
“Investigators said she may have misjudged the nearness of the approaching train because many slower freight trains pass through that crossing each day. Both freights and the high-speed passenger trains activate the flashing signals 2,808 feet from the crossing. The investigators said a passenger train, traveling 70 mph as the Floridian was, would reach the crossing in 27.4 seconds after signal activation. A freight train moving 20 mph would require one minute, 30 seconds.
“As a result, the board recommended Plant City officials cooperate with the Florida Department of Transportation and the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad to install automatic gates, cantilever flashing lights and uniform warning signal devices at the crossing where the accident happened.
“The board also noted the mishap occurred along the Jacksonville-Tampa rail corridor which has been the scene of many crossing accidents. It urged state and federal agencies to take actions to reduce the number of train-car collisions in this stretch. The report said the Amtrak crossing accident rate in the corridor is six times the national average. It said while Amtrak operates in 46 states, 17.8 percent of all its grade crossing accidents in 1975 through 1977 occurred in Florida.”
(Palm Beach Post, FL. “Board: Truck Driver at Fault in Train Crash.” 12-8-1978, p. D14.)
Sources
Ferrara, Grace M. The Disaster File: The 1970’s. New York: Facts on File, 1979.
Naples Daily News, FL. “19 Are Killed on Highways.” 10-3-1977, p. 10. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=64934518
Naples Daily News, FL. “Death Truck Driver Had Been Drinking.” 10-7-1977, p. 9. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=76550345
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Partial Data Dump of Crashes Involving 10 or More Fatalities, by Year, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 1975-2009 Final and 2010 ARF. Washington, DC: NHTSA, pdf file provided to Wayne Blanchard, 1-26-2012.
Palm Beach Post, FL. “Board: Truck Driver at Fault in Train Crash.” 12-8-1978, p. D14. At: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19781208&id=LfEiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5ssFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1066,6211544
Panama City News-Herald, FL. “Crash That Killed Ten Under Investigation.” 10-4-1977, 10. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=159870809
Panama City News-Herald, FL. “Driver Reported Under Influence.” 10-30-1977, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=159871474
Playground Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, FL. “10 in Pickup Die in Crash.” 10-3-1977, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=94534172
–7 AP. “Seven People Killed in Beattyville Fire Disaster.” Harlan Daily Enterprise, KY. 9-26-1977, p1.
–7 NTSB. HAR. Usher Transport… Overturn…Fire, St. Rt. 11, Beattyville, KY, Sep 24, 1977.
Narrative Information
National Transportation Safety Board: “Synopsis
“About 9:35 a.m., e.s.t., on September 24., 1977, an Usher Transport, Inc., tractor-cargo-tank semitrailer was descending a 12.6-percent, 720-foot-long grade approaching a left curve and a railroad/highway grade crossing on Kentucky State Route 11 in Beattyville, Kentucky. The truck, which was hauling 8,255 gallons of gasoline, crossed the tracks against the flashing red lights and in front of an approaching train and struck buildings adjacent to the edge of the road. It then overturned on top of a parked car. Escaping gasoline ignited and the fire destroyed 6 buildings and 16 parked vehicles. Seven persons died in the fire.
“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the loss of vehicle control because of speed excessive for highway geometry. Contributing to the accident was the truck-driver’s lack of judgment when he failed to respond to the warnings and obey the rules of the road.
RECOMMENDATIONS
“As a result of its investigation of this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board has recommended that the city of Beattyville work jointly with the State of Kentucky to:
“Ban all parking on the west side of KY 11 from the L & N Railroad tracks to Main Street. (Class I, Urgent Action) (H-78-33)
“Coordinate with the citizens of Beattyville actions necessary to assure the prompt completion of the realignment of KY 11. (Class I, Urgent Action) (H-78-34)”
to the State of Kentucky:
“Place an activated advance railroad warning sign, extend the 25 mph zone, determine through application of current technology the safest traversable speed for the curve, and then post a turn sign and an advisory speed plate, before the crest of the 12.6 percent grade on KY 11. (Class I, Urgent Action) (H-78-35)
“Improve the surface of the rail/highway grade crossing, the skid resistance properties of the hill, and, simultaneously, the super-elevation of the curve. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-78-36)
“Develop a policy to prohibit parking adjacent to roads where restrictive geometric conditions exist. (Class III, Longer-Term Action) (H-78-37)
“Review similar downgrade to assure that the most restrictive features on or adjacent to steep downgrades are indicated before the descent begins. (Class III, Longer-Term Action) (H-78-38)
“Work jointly with Beattyville to ban all parking-on the west side of KY 11 from the L & N Railroad tracks to Main Street and to expedite acquisition of land in the area of the demolished buildings if the new alignment is to pass through this area. (Class I, Urgent Action) (H-78-39)”
On July 19, 1978, the Safety Board further recommended that:
the Federal Highway Administration:
“Expedite the implementation of the findings of the FWA study, ‘Analysis of Cargo Tank Integrity in Rollovers.’ (Class II, Priority Action) (H-78-51)
“Research the feasibility of installing energy attenuating devices capable of decelerating large runaway vehicles on steep grades where the use of adjacent property prohibits the installation of truck escape routes. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-78-52)” (NTSB. HAR. Usher Transport… Overturn…Fire, St. Rt. 11, Beattyville, KY, Sep 24, 1977.)
Newspaper
Sep 26, AP: “Beattyville, Ky. (AP) – ‘I sure never thought when I got up this morning that I’d be doing this tonight,’ said a weary member of the Lee County Rescue Squad, who joined in the search for seven persons killed here in the fiery crash of a gasoline tanker truck.
“The truck’s brakes apparently failed on a steep, 700-foot grade leading into the business district of this southeastern Kentucky town of 1,200 persons. The hill on Ky. 11 ended in a curve to the left of Vincent’s Trading Post, a small furniture store.
“The tanker crashed into the building and plowed on through Hollan’s Cut & Curl Beauty Salon, a storage area, television repair shop and, finally, Gladys’ Dinette on the corner. The cab separated from the tanker, which ruptured and spewed 8,200 gallons of flaming gasoline into the shops and toward a row of stores on the other side of the restaurant. The driver, William Wilson of Louisville, survived the crash by leaping from the cab.
“Fire heavily damaged a barber shop, flower shop, clothing store and automotive parts store, but everyone inside the buildings escaped through rear exits.
“Five of the dead – Judy Hollan Gabbert, owner of the beauty shop; Christina Bradley Hughes, Reba Davis, Vickie Moore and Tressie Fuller, all of Beattyville – were found in the beauty shop. Their bodies were burned beyond recognition and rescue workers removed them in pieces from the rubble Saturday night [Sep 24]. Mrs. Fuller was having her hair styled for her daughter’s wedding Saturday afternoon. Her name was added to the list of missing after she failed to appear at the ceremony.
“The first body recovered was that of Woodrow Wilson, a 6-foot-6 bear of a man with an artificial leg who lived alone in a small apartment above Gladys’. He was a regular customer there and it was generally believed he was in the restaurant at the time of the explosion, but Deputy State Fire Marshal Edgar Kelly said that was impossible to determine.
“As the search continued beneath a string of emergency lights Saturday night, workers became increasingly skeptical that the body of Gladys Fike, the restaurant owner, would be found. Load after load of rubble was sifted and thrown aside as the search steadily neared the rear of the building. ‘You have to do it piece by piece, brick by brick,’ said Doug Brandenburg of the Lee County Rescue Squad. ‘You’ll see them turn up a shovel and shake it, because a ring might fall out or a finger, or anything.’ Several persons among the hundreds of onlookers said they thought Mrs. Fike sought refuge in a small bathroom in the left rear corner of the restaurant. When workers finally reached the spot, they found her body slumped on the toilet seat. The flames had not reached her, and the cause of death was not immediately determined….
“….Cars parked across the street exploded like a string of firecrackers as flaming gasoline flowed in the gutter of Main Street, a narrow road that winds for five blocks along the Kentucky River. Parking meters melted on the sidewalk. Store fronts showed the scars of each car explosion. A storm sewer stopped the fire a few yards from the Beattyville Lumber Co. ….” (Assoc. Press. “Seven People Killed in Beattyville Fire Disaster.” Harlan Daily Enterprise, KY. 9-26-1977, p.1.)
Sources
Associated Press (Charles Wolfe). “Seven People Killed in Beattyville Fire Disaster.” Harlan Daily Enterprise, KY. 9-26-1977, p. 1. Accessed 10-3-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/harlan-daily-enterprise-sep-26-1977-p-1/
National Transportation Safety Board. Highway Accident Report. Usher Transport, Inc., Tractor-Cargo-Tank-Semitrailer Overturn and Fire, State Route 11, Beattyville, Kentucky, September 24, 1977 (NTSB HAR-78/04; NTIS PB-282426/AS). Washington, DC: NTSB, adopted July 6, 1978. Accessed at: http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/1978/HAR7804.htm
–20 ASN. Accident description. USAF Boeing EC-135K 8 km E of Albuquerque-Kirtland AFB
–20 Baugher, Joseph F. 1962 USAF Serial Numbers. 11-26-2011 update.
–20 Del Rio News-Herald (TX). “Air Force Jet Crash Kills 20,” Sep 15, 1977, p. 3.
–20 Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 124.
–20 Planecrashinfo.com. “1977. Accident Details. USAF…near Albuquerque, NM…Sep 14.”
Narrative Information
Aviation Safety Network: “….First Flight: 1963-02-27 (1`4 years 7 months)
“Total airframe hrs: 7307….
“Total: Fatalities: 20 / Occupants: 20….
“Location: 8 km (5 mls) E of Albuquerque-Kirtland AFB, NM….
“Phase: Initial climb (ICL)
“Departure airport: Albuquerque-Kirtland AFB, NM…
“Destination airport: Las Vegas-Nellis AFB, NV…
“Narrative: Crashed in steep terrain, about 8,500 feet up the Manzano Mountain range.”
(Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. United States Air Force, Boeing EC-135K 8 km E of Albuquerque-Kirtland AFB, NM, 14 Sep 1977.)
Baugher: “Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker….3536 (c/n 18519) converted to EC-135K. Crashed in steep terrain near Kirtland AFB, NM Sept 14, 1977. All 20 onboard killed. (ASN).” (Baugher, Joseph F. 1962 USAF Serial Numbers. 11-26-2011 update.)
Gero: “Date: 14 September 1977 (23:48)….
“Operated by the Tactical Air Command as an airborne command and control platform, the modified jet tanker crashed about 2½ minutes after taking off from Kirtland Air Force Base, and its entire crew of 20 perished.
“The scene of the accident was in the Manzano Mountains, 5 miles (10km) beyond the departure end of Runway 08, which the aircraft had used, and at an approximate elevation of 6,500ft (1,980m). Climbing on a heading of 125 degrees, the cleanly-configured EC-135 was in a right bank of approximately 30 degrees when it struck a peak just 30ft (10m) below its summit.
“Examination of a recovered air speed indicator revealed a reading that correlated to around 185mph (300kph) at the moment of the crash. Initial contact was with its right wing and No. 4 power plant, and in the subsequent impact the aircraft exploded and disintegrated.
“It was dark at the time, but the meteorological conditions were otherwise good, with a broken overcast at 11,000ft (3,400m), a visibility of 15 miles (25km) and a south-easterly wind of 4 knots. The investigation found no evidence of in-flight fire, explosion or structural, electrical, instrument, engine or flight control failure prior to impact. It was reported that before the crash, 62-3536 had been observed on radar to be flying too low, and that a ground controller unsuccessfully instructed it to turn right and climb. Fatigue may have contributed to the crew’s failure to follow the proper departure flight profile.” (Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 124-125.)
Planecrashinfo.com: “Crashed into a mountain peak in the Manzano range shortly after taking off and making a right bank. The aircraft was observed flying too low and did not heed the controller’s warnings. Fatigue may have played a part in the accident.” (Planecrashinfo.com.)
Newspaper
Sep 15: “Albuquerque, N.M. (AP) — An Air Force plane slammed into a mountainside on a high-security Army base, killing all 20 persons aboard when it exploded on impact a half mile from any bunker containing fissionable material, authorities said.
“The four engine plane crashed on Manzano Base, where nuclear weapons are stored, three minutes after its take off from Kirtland Air Force Base at 11:45 p.m. Wednesday.
“Kirtland base operations confirmed there were no survivors… ‘One big fireball and that was it’ a nearby resident said.
“Air Force crews using flares and helicopter spotlights recovered at least 15 bodies in a pre-dawn search. Authorities said all those aboard were military personnel.
“A spokesman at the plane’s base said it was used frequently by high ranking military personnel and American and foreign dignitaries. Former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger is among those who have used the plane, the spokesman said.
“The aircraft, which was scattered over 10 acres after impact was used as a model for modifications to Air Force One, the president’s plane.
“An air traffic controller said he tried to warn the pilot the plane was in trouble. ‘The first indication we had he was in trouble was when the radar showed he was too close to the mountain and flying too low;’ said the controller. ‘We hit him on the guard frequency and told him to turn right and climb … but he never did,’ he said.
“The jet was a communications aircraft based at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, N.C. An Air Force spokesman said it was on a training mission and was on its way to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The BC135, described as a ‘modified 707,’ stopped in Albuquerque to refuel, the spokesman said.” (Del Rio News-Herald, TX. “Air Force Jet Crash Kills 20,” Sep 15, 1977, p. 3.)
Sources
Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. United States Air Force, Boeing EC-135K 8 km E of Albuquerque-Kirtland AFB, NM, 14 Sep 1977. Accessed 2-25-2012 at:
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19770914-0
Baugher, Joseph F. 1962 USAF Serial Numbers. 11-26-2011 update. Accessed 2-25-2012 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1962.html
Del Rio News-Herald, TX. “Air Force Jet Crash Kills 20,” Sep 15, 1977, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=115365016
Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. UK and Newbury Park, CA: Patrick Stephens Limited, an imprint of Hayes Publishing, 1999.
Planecrashinfo.com. “1977. Accident Details. USAF…near Albuquerque, NM…Sep 14.” Accessed at: http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1977/1977-52.htm
— 29 NWS WFO Kansas City/Pleasant Hill, MO. Kansas City Flash Flood of October 4, 1998.*
— 25 Bushnell. “Floods Ravaged Plaza – 40 Years ago this week.” Northeast News, 9-13-2017.
— 25 Ludlum. The American Weather Book. 1982, p. 85.
— 25 Mexico Ledger, MO. “KC Search Continues For Victims of Flood,” Sep 19, 1977, p. 2.
— 25 NOAA. Kansas City Flash Flood of September 12-13, 1977. Dec 1977, p. v.
— 25 USGS. Summary of Significant Floods in…US…PR…VI, 1970 Through 1989. 2008.
— 24 Chillicothe Constitution Tribune, MO. “Flood Death Toll to 24,” Sep 15, 1977, p. 11.
— 23 Ludlum. The American Weather Book. 1982, p. 82.
*Blanchard on the Kansas City, KS/Pleasant Hill, MO, National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office number of 29 deaths: We do not show as part of a range (say 25-29) in our title in that we have not been able to substantiate this number.
Narrative Information
Bushnell, 2017: “….Brush Creek…has flowed quietly through the valley developed in the early 1920s… Soon after the development of the Country Club Plaza as Kansas City’s premier shopping destination, tiny Brush Creek was ‘tamed’ and re-channeled amid much controversy into a concrete trough poured by then-political boss Tom Pendergast’s Ready-Mix Concrete Company. The creek flowed peacefully through the heart of the upscale shopping district, only occasionally rearing its head into what locals called a ‘minor threat.’….
“On the night of September 12, 1977, following two days of heavy rain that had saturated the ground, a wall of water raced eastward along the creek’s channel and bore down on Country Club Plaza businesses and scores of unsuspecting patrons. In a period of minutes, dozens of parked cars were swept away, block after block of shops were ravaged by the flood waters, and millions of dollars of inventory was either immediately destroyed or washed away. In one Plaza restaurant just off Ward Parkway, flood waters surged to over five feet deep in a little over a quarter of an hour. Employees and customers fled, often with nothing more than the clothes they were wearing and what they had in their pockets.
“Witnesses reported a “15- to 20-foot high wall of water” raging along the creek-bed, coming down from State Line toward the swank shopping district at close to 20 miles per hour. The low-lying bridges that spanned the creek at Wornall Road and Ward Parkway and Madison only compounded the flooding by catching all manner of debris in the narrow channel underneath, backing up floodwaters to higher levels than ever before. Logs, debris – even cars – washed from the Plaza-area streets blocked the flood water’s passage under the bridges, creating great snags that tested the bridges superstructure. Floating debris knocked loose natural gas meters and lines from buildings, causing numerous natural gas leaks, some of which sparked explosions that created blazing fireballs throughout the night.
“When the water receded less than 24 hours later, damage assessments began to run into the millions of dollars. The raging torrent had left over 1,000 people homeless, and scores more were missing. Electricity service was knocked out for over 25,000 customers, and over 15,000 homes and businesses lost telephone service for at least two days. The grim final tally included 25 dead and over $100 million in damages….” (Bushnell, Michael. “Floods Ravaged Plaza – 40 Years ago this week.” Northeast News, 9-13-2017.)
Ludlum: “A devastating flash flood struck the Kansas City metropolitan area on September 12-13, 1977, as a result of two heavy rains of six hours’ duration, both coming within a 36-hour period. Each storm cell dropped 6 to 7 in…generally, and in a restricted area rainfall up to 16 in…was measured during the dual storm period. The storms were unique, not only for their huge rainfall totals, but also for their occurrence over the same small area….Hardest hit by the rains and subsequent flash flood was the famous Country Club Shopping Plaza along Brush Creek in southwest Kansas City, Missouri, where flood waters surged through its many boutiques and restaurants. Of the 25 deaths reported, 17 were either drivers of or passengers in automobiles caught in the flood.” (Ludlum. The American Weather Book. 1982, p. 85.)
National Weather Service: “Historically, the flash flood of October 4th, 1998, is the second deadliest flash flood in Kansas City’s history, eclipsed only by the September 11-12, 1977 flash flood that killed 29 people and resulted in over $100 million in property damages that affected the Country Club Plaza.” (NWS WFO Kansas City/Pleasant Hill, MO. Kansas City Flash Flood of October 4, 1998.)
USGS: “On September 12 and 13, two intense storms hit the Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri area within 12 hours of each other and caused severe flooding, especially on Brush Creek which runs through the metropolitan area. The storms both had recurrence intervals of 100 years and produced 6 to 7 in. of rain each (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1977). Total rainfall was as much as 16 in. in some areas of Kansas City. Twenty-five deaths were caused by the floods, and damages were more than $80 million (Hauth and others, 1981 ).” (USGS. Summary of Significant Floods in…US…PR…VI, 1970 Through 1989. 2008.)
Newspapers
Sep 13: “Kansas City (AP) Flash floods spawned by the heaviest recorded rainfall the city’s history took a heavy toll in lives Monday night, and authorities were pumping water from underground parking garages today determine if the toll might go even higher.
“Authorities said 18 persons were confirmed dead in the metropolitan area, but others were missing….
“The main concern today was three underground parking garages in the plush Country Club Plaza shopping area. Water filled the garages—three levels in one of them and at least two levels in the others—and it was not known how many cars were parked there. ‘We have no idea how many cars there are or if there’s anybody in any of them,’ one city official said, adding that pumping operations should be completed sometime today….
“Water reached as high as five feet in tome stores in the Plaza…
“Water from the rampaging Blue River in the east section of the city forced the evacuation of 500 mobile homes at the Heart of America Trailer Court and closed the General Motors auto assembly plant and other industries in the Leeds district.
“More than 150 private boats were called into service early today to rescue persons stranded in their flooded homes and submerged cars. The trailer court, located just west of the Truman Sports Complex, looked like a big lake this morning, with water half-covering many of the mobile homes.
“ ‘Police are checking for possible additional deaths in the cars caught in the wall of water that swept Brush Creek, Ward Parkway and the Plaza shopping area,’ said Frank H. Spink Jr., director of emergency preparedness for the city. Spink said… ‘… we had a six-foot wall of water roaring down Brush Creek above bankful, and it just swept up everything in its path, shoved it aside or rammed its way through.’….
“In the suburb of Leawood, Kan., police discovered the bodies of a middle-aged man and a young child in a late model Mercedes. The car was on its side snagged against a tree. A creek, usually so tame that it had no name, had roared out of its banks to engulf the car.” (Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune. “18 Confirmed Dead–Rain, Floods Take Toll…K…” Sep 13 , 1977, p. 1.)
“The damage was awesome. Preliminary estimates in the metropolitan area showed 65 businesses damaged or destroyed 228 houses, 150 apartments and 500 mobile homes suffering at least some damage….At the height of the storm Monday night, 2,600 had to flee their homes.” (Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune (MO). “Plaza Flood Damaged Described as ‘Awesome’,” 13Sep1977, 10.)
Sep 15: “Kansas City (AP) – The death toll in the Kansas City flash flood rose to 24 today while the damage estimate climbed to $50 million. Twenty-three bodies were found in Kansas City — the latest this morning in a car that had been submerged in a creek. The other body was found in Leavenworth, Kan., about 35 miles to the northwest. The latest victim was found this morning in the back of a wrecked car pulled out of Brush Creek by a crane during recovery operations. Several cars were found in the creek this morning as waters from the Monday night flood continued to recede…
“President Jimmy Carter…declared Jackson, Clay, Platte, Ray and Lafayette counties disaster areas, making residents, small businesses and local governments eligible for lows-cost loans and grants. Damage estimates rose as high as $50 million….The Kansas governor issued a proclamation declaring a state of disaster emergency in 10 northeastern Kansas counties, making them eligible for state aid under the Kansas Disaster plan….
“Four more bodies were discovered Wednesday during clean-up operations, two along a creek bank about l½ miles from the Big Blue River in an area about five miles east of the Plaza. Police said they would search that area again.” (Chillicothe Constitution Tribune (MO). “Flood Death Toll to 24,” Sep 15, 1977, p. 11.)
Sep 19: “Today, 25 are known dead as a result of the rampant flooding that mangled cars, closed stores and ruined homes in the Kansas City area. One of the victims, a woman whose body was too decomposed to identify immediately, was found in Brush Creek in east Kansas City Sunday morning. Two persons are still missing, police said. But they believe one of those may be the unidentified body found Sunday.” (Mexico Ledger, MO. “KC Search Continues For Victims of Flood,” Sep 19, 1977, 2.)
Sources
Bushnell, Michael. “Floods Ravaged Plaza – 40 Years ago this week.” Northeast News, 9-13-2017. Accessed 9-27-2021 at: http://northeastnews.net/pages/floods-ravaged-plaza-40-years-ago-today/
Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune (MO). “18 Confirmed Dead — Rain, Floods Take Toll in K.C.” Sep 13, 1977, 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=116662175
Chillicothe Constitution Tribune, MO. “Flood Death Toll to 24,” Sep 15, 1977, p. 11. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=116662197
City of Kansas City, MO. Emergency Management History (website). “Flood – October 4, 1998. Accessed 1-3-2016 at: http://kcmo.gov/oem/emergency-management-history/
Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1982.
Mexico Ledger, MO. “KC Search Continues For Victims of Flood,” Sep 19, 1977, 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=121810929
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Kansas City Flash Flood of September 12-13, 1977 (A Report to the Administrator). Rockville, MD: NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce. December 1977. Accessed 9-27-2021 at: https://www.weather.gov/media/publications/assessments/Kansas%20City%20Flash%20Flood%20September%201977.pdf
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Kansas City/Pleasant Hill, MO. Kansas City Flash Flood of October 4, 1998. Accessed 1-13-2016 at: http://www.weather.gov/eax/event-oct041998
United States Geological Survey. Summary of Significant Floods in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, 1970 Through 1989 (Water-Supply Paper 2502). USGS Kansas Water Science Center, Sep 17, 2008. Accessed 11-12-2016 at: http://ks.water.usgs.gov/pubs/reports/wsp.2502.contents.html#HDR1
–13 Liefer. Broken Wings: Tragedy & Disaster in Alaska Civil Aviation. 2003, pp. 199-208.
–13 NTSB. AAR-Alaska Aeronautical Industries, inc…Iliamna, Alaska, September 6, 1977. p. i
Narrative Information
NTSB abstract: “About 1452 Alaska daylight time, on September 6, 1977, Alaska Aeronautical Industries, Inc., Flight 302 crashed into a glacier on the southwest side of Mt. Iliamna, Alaska, about 7,000 feet above mean sea level.[1] The aircraft crashed in level flight in instrument meteorological conditions while en route from Iliamna, Alaska, to Anchorage, Alaska. There were 2 crewmembers and 11 passengers aboard the aircraft; there were no survivors. The aircraft was destroyed. Because of the rapidly changing environmental conditions on the glacier face, recovery of bodies or wreckage was not possible.
“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the flightcrew to use proper navigational procedures for the route to be flown, especially their failure to use the available backup means of navigation to verify the position and the progress of the flight.” [Abstract, p. i.]
“….History of the Flight. On September 6, 1977, Alaska Aeronautical Industries, Inc., Flight 302, a DeHavilland DHC-6-20…operated as a scheduled flight from Iliamna, Alaska, to Anchorage, Alaska….
“Flight 302 departed Iliamna at 1419 with 11 passengers and 2 crewmembers on board. In was cleared to Anchorage on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan… The flight was to maintain 7,000 ft….” [p. 1.]
“After several unsuccessful attempts to contact Flight 302 by several air traffic control facilities between Iliamna and Anchorage and after the flight could not be detected on radar in the areas where radar coverage was available, Anchorage Center initiated the required actions to alert and notify appropriate authorities of a possible aircraft accident. U.S. Air Force search and rescue aircraft located the wreckage site at 1643 on September 7, 1977. The aircraft had struck a glacier face on the southwest side of Mt. Iliamna[2] at the 7,000 ft. elevation. [end of p. 2.]
“….Aircraft Information. The aircraft was certified and maintained in accordance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements….The aircraft was not equipped with sufficient low frequency (ADF) navigational radio receivers for the flight from Iliamna to Anchorage. [end of p. 3.]
“14 CFR 135.159(a)(5) states:
(5) Two independent receivers for navigation.
“The safety Board requested that the FAA furnish an official interpretation of this regulation. In their reply the FAA stated, ‘under these circumstances (those of this accident), it is our opinion that operation of the aircraft with only one low frequency navigational receiver available in the aircraft did not comply with the requirement…Statements made by company personnel during the accident investigation and at the public hearing disclosed that the company and its flight crewmembers had the same understanding of the regulation, and flight operations were to be conducted accordingly….
“Company policy was to schedule the aircraft with two DF receivers on the flights to Iliamna. This was the case on the day of the accident; however, the aircraft originally scheduled had maintenance difficulties early in the day. A decision was made by a company representative, whose responsibilities did not include the dispatch of aircraft, to substitute N563MA to fly the trips of the originally scheduled aircraft, including the trip to Iliamna. The captain accepted this decision. [End of p. 6.]
“Investigation revealed that the properly equipped aircraft originally scheduled for the Iliamna flight was repaired and available for the flight. However, as far as could be determined, the captain was never informed of this nor did he inquire as to the other aircraft’s maintenance status…. [p. 7]
“Company Maintenance Practices. A review of the company’s maintenance practices disclosed that aircraft spare parts were not tagged or otherwise identified as to their operational status. Serviceable parts were intermixed with unserviceable parts. The ompany’s Chief of Maintenance stated that he knew the exact condition of each item in stock and, therefore, there was no need to tag them. He stated further that if replacement parts were needed, he could determine the condition of the item. At the public hearing, company pilots and company maintenance personnel were confused as to the correct use of the maintenance logbook. Their opinions varied when asked to determine from logbook page entry the status of individual parts which had been reported deficient or the airworthiness of an aircraft to be flown on a particular flight.
“Company Training Practices. A review of the company training records and testimony at the public hearing disclosed that often crewmembers did not receive training required by the company training manual before they became a first officer or a captain. When training was received, it was usually the minimum required by the manual, which was the case for the two crewmembers of the accident aircraft…. [p. 13]
“Analysis….The Safety Board concludes that the operational control exercised by company management was deficient because N563MA was dispatched for the flight from Anchorage to Iliamna by a company representative who had no knowledge of the navigational equipment requirements for the flight and whose responsibilities did not include the assignment or the dispatch of company aircraft. Company personnel with this knowledge and responsibility were available, but were not consulted. The aircraft originally scheduled for the flight was equipped with two ADF receivers.
“The FAA regulations give the pilot the ultimate responsibility to accept or refuse an aircraft for a flight based on his own judgment of the situation. The Board was unable to positively identify the reason or reasons why the pilot did not exercise his authority to refuse this aircraft. He was either not aware of the requirement for two ADF receivers on the route to be flown or he knowingly disregarded it. In view of the pilot’s experience and qualifications, and the company’s stated policy in this regard, it is unlikely that he was not aware of the requirement. It is equally unlikely that he would willingly disregard the requirement without reason. One reason for the pilot’s acceptance of the aircraft could have been his desire to complete the day’s flights. This was his last trip after a long day of flight in adverse meteorological conditions. Also, the flight to Iliamna was already late leaving Anchorage. These two factors could have been inducement enough for the pilot’s actions.
“Another possibility was pressure placed on him by the company to complete the assigned flight in the assigned aircraft. Testimony at the Safety Board’s public hearing revealed that, on at least one occasion, a captain was dismissed by a company official for his refusal to accept a flight because of adverse weather which was forecast for the proposed route of flight. Other instances of company pressure of this kind were reported to the Board during the investigation….
“During its investigation and public hearing, the Safety Board realized that the company’s management of operations, its training program, its maintenance practices and procedures, and FAA’s surveillance of these areas were inadequate. Improper aircraft scheduling and dispatch procedures and the failure by management to assign these responsibilities to key company personnel places an undue decisionmaking burden on the individual pilots. This burden is increased when other pressures, such as the threat of disciplinary action, are brought to bear on the pilot when company management does not agree with his decisions….” [pp. 18-19]
Safety Recommendations
“As a result of this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration:
Revise the surveillance requirements of commuter airlines by FAA inspectors to provide more stringent monitoring… [p. 21]
…insure that an adequate number of inspectors are assigned to monitor properly each operator….
(NTSB. Aircraft Accident Report — Alaska Aeronautical Industries, inc., DeHavilland DHC-6-200, N563MA, Near Iliamna, Alaska, September 6, 1977. 1978.)
Liefer: After reviewing the list of problems uncovered by the NTSB investigation, Liefer writes: “There was not one problem or error that stood out among the others as a direct cause of the accident, but rather a combination of several mechanical, operational and human errors, which came together and magnified until they resulted in a terrible tragedy.” (p. 202.)
Sources
Liefer, G. P. Broken Wings: Tragedy & Disaster in Alaska Civil Aviation. Blaine, WA: Hancock House, 2003.
National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report — Alaska Aeronautical Industries, inc., DeHavilland DHC-6-200, N563MA, Near Iliamna, Alaska, September 6, 1977 (NTISUB/D/104-005). Washington, DC: NTSB, May 4, 1978, 31 pages. Accessed 1-1-2018 at: https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR7805.pdf
[1] Liefer notes this “was almost thirty miles off the IFR [instrument flight rules] route…” (p. 203.)
[2] NTSB footnote indicates that “Mt. Iliamna is located about 58 nmi east-northeast of Iliamna Airport…”
–1 Breasted. “10,000 Leave New York Offices…Bomb Threats Disrupt City…” NYT, 8-4-1977, 1.
–1 Lubasch. “Woman is Charged in F.A.L.N. Blast.” New York Times. 9-8-1977, p. 1.
Narrative Information
Aug 4: “Note Found in Park. Puerto Rican Terror Group Takes the Responsibility —Beame Is Angered
“Terrorist bombs exploded in two midtown Manhattan office buildings yesterday morning, killing one man and injuring seven other persons, while dozens of bomb threats forced more than 100,000 people to vacate their offices.
“The entire twin towers of the World Trade Center were evacuated, as were seven floors of the Empire State Building. The self‐styled F.A.L.N. terrorist group took responsibility for the explosions, leaving a statement at the base of the statue of Jose Marti, the Cuban revolutionary, in Central Park that called for the independence of Puerto Rico.
“The F.A.L.N., which stands for Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacien Nacional Puertorriquefta, has been setting bombs in Manhattan and in Chicago, Newark and Washington since 1974, and is now the focus of two Federal grand jury investigations.
“The evacuations caused traffic and ‘ pedestrian jams around the city, as entire streets and sidewalks were closed. Wherever fire and police vehicles gathered, throngs of people stood in the rain and pushed against wooden or rope barricades for a better view. Some people took ad‐; vantage of the early quitting time to socialize in local bars, while thousands of others went home.
“Millions of dollars were lost to business. Mayor Beame visited the Mobil Oil. Building, at 150 East 42d Street, where Charles S. Steinberg, 26 years old, was killed by the second bomb. Standing near the bloodstained shards of glass, the Mayor said: ‘This is an outrageous act of terrorism.’
“He called for a resumption of the death penalty as ‘a deterrent to terrorism.’
“The Mayor announced later in the day that he had met with Federal Bureau of Investigation officials and had been assured by them that ‘the F.B.I. has an excellent idea who these people are, but they haven’t been able to catch them in the act.’ The Mayor also said that the F.A.L.N. bombing suspects had been ‘under surveillance for the last six months.’….
“Yesterday’s first bombing, which injured no one, occurred at 342 Madison Avenue in the 21st‐floor offices of the Department of Defense. Employees of that office found a woman’s handbag in the hallway at about 9:30 A.M. They brought it inside, where the assistant, agent in charge, Thomas J. Sweeney, opened it and immediately realized it was a .bomb when he saw wires and the face of clock. Mr. Sweeney left the purse on a table, urged the staff to move to the other end of the long office and moved with them. Seconds later the bomb went off, blowing a hole in the concrete wall and breaking most of the windows in the office. That explosion occurred at about 9:37 A.M.
“About an hour later, a second explosion ripped through the first‐floor personnel office of the Mobil Oil Corporation in the Mobil Oil Building, instantly killing Mr. Steinberg, a partner in an employment service who had stopped by to see if there were any jobs for his applicants.
“The explosion, caused by a device the police think, may have been hung from a coat rack or placed on a high shelf, bent a metal door in half, shattered large plate‐glass .windows and splattered the office curtains with the blood of the victim.
“At the time of the blast, two men from the Police Department’s emergency services unit were searching for a bomb in front of the, building and in the lobby. They were searching because a caller, saying he was a spokesman for the F.A.L.N., had listed the Mobil Oil Building among a group of office buildings where bombs allegedly had been set.
“The caller, who telephoned the WABCTV Eyewitness News desk at about 9:40 A.M., was so nervous and so badly out of breath that he garbled the acronym at the outset, saying, ‘This is the F.L.A.N.’
“Speaking to a news clerk, the caller said that bombs had been set in the Mobil Oil Building and in three other buildings —410 Park Avenue (where there is Chase Manhattan Bank branch), 1270 Avenue of the Americas (where there are several Latin American consulates) and 245 Park Avenue (the American Brands Building).
“A second call to Eyewitness News five minutes liter repeated the same information, but added the World Trade Center towers to the list of buildings where explosive devices were reportedly about to go off, a spokesman for the television station said later.
“Another call was made to The New York Post by a woman who claimed to be speaking for the F.A.L.N. and who said that a note related to the first explosion could be found near the Central Park statue. The call, which came shortly after the first explosion, led to the discovery of the communiqué with the F.A.L.N. demands.
“Late in the day, a Police Department spokesman said that both explosions appeared to have been caused by devices ‘made by the same person.’
“The note called the explosions “just a warning” to “multinational corporations” that, it said, ‘explore and exploit our national resource’ and ‘are part of Yanki Imperialism.’ The note also said that the devices had been set because the subject of Puerto Rico’s status is to come up soon in the United Nations.
“The scores of telephoned bomb threats —’by the end of the day, police said they had received more than 200—were at times made by people who said they were speaking for the F.A.L.N., at other times by people who said they were calling in behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Deputy Police Commissioner Francis J. McLoughlin said that most were considered crank calls and did not lead to building evacuations.
“But more than 100,000 people had to be removed from the buildings mentioned in the two calls to WABC‐TV‐35,000 from the World Trade Center towers alone.
“A bomb threat called in to Manhattan’s Midtown South precinct said that a device would explode on the 82d floor of the Empire State Building. The police, according to their policy, evacuated that floor and the three floors above and below it, which included the 86th floor observation deck. They found nothing, and gave permission for a return to those floors at 2:15 P.M….
“Hearing of the explosions and the bomb threats in Valley Forge, Pa., both the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Carlos Romero Barcelo, and Representative Herman Badillo, Bronx Democrat, denounced the terrorists….
“Like previous F.A.L.N. communications, the note asked for the freeing of the five Puerto Rican nationalists jailed since the 1950’s for shooting at and wounding several Representatives in the House of Representatives and for attempting to assassinate the late President Harry S. Truman. And as in previous F.A.L.N. notes, it called for an end to the grand jury investigations of the bombings.
“The note was signed “FALN CENTRAL COMMAND.”
“Yesterday’s bombings were the first of those claimed by the F.A.L.N. to involve a fatality since the Jan. 24, 1975 lunch hour bombing of Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan, which killed four people and injured more than 50 others….” (Breasted, Mary. “10,000 Leave New York Offices as Bomb Threats Disrupt City…” New York Times, 8-4-1977, p. 1.)
Sep 8: “A 22‐year‐old woman identified through a fingerprint found at the site of the Aug. 3 bombing that killed one person and injured several others at the Mobil Oil Building in Manhattan was charged with the bombing yesterday. The bombing was one of a series of terrorist acts attributed to a Puerto Rican nationalist group known as the F.A.L.N. The suspect was identified as Marie Haydee Beltran Torres. She and her husband, Carlos Alberto Torres, a central figure in the F.A.L.N. investigations, are being sought by the authorities. Mr. Torres, was indicted yesterday in Chicago on charges involving bombings there.
“Responsibility for numerous bombings in New York, Chicago and elsewhere since 1974 has been taken by the F.A.L.N., the Spanish initials for the armed forces of national liberation. The most serious explosion killed four persons and injured more than 50 at Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan in 1975.
“A criminal complaint charging Mrs. Torres with the bombing of the Mobil Oil building was filed late yesterday in Federal District Court in Manhattan. The complaint was announced by Robert B. Fiske Jr., the United States Attorney, who said that an arrest warrant had been issued for her….”
(Lubasch, Arnold H. “Woman is Charged in F.A.L.N. Blast.” New York Times. 9-8-1977, p. 1.
Sources
Breasted, Mary. “10,000 Leave New York Offices as Bomb Threats Disrupt City…” New York Times, 8-4-1977, p. 1. Accessed 2-11-2022 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1977/08/04/archives/100000-leave-new-york-offices-as-bomb-threats-disrupt-city-blasts.html
Lubasch, Arnold H. “Woman is Charged in F.A.L.N. Blast.” New York Times. 9-8-1977, p. 1. Accessed 2-12-2022 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/08/archives/woman-is-charged-in-faln-blast-wife-of-fugitive-sought-in-faln.html
— ~85 Blanchard. (We take the Johnstown Flood Museum tally to be authoritative.)
–76-86 U.S. Comptroller General (GAO). The Johnstown Area Flood of 1977. 1978, p. 1.*
–78-86 Hoxit, et al. (NOAA/USGS). Johnstown-Western PA Storm…Floods…1977. 1982, 1.**
–78-86 Kozlovac. Adventures in Flood Control: The Johnstown, Pennsylvania Story. 1995, p.10.***
— 85 Hamburg. “Tanneryville man remembers devastation from 1977 Johnstown Flood.” 7-19-2017.
— 85 Johnstown Flood Museum. 1936 & 1977 Floods. Johnstown Area Heritage Assn., 2020.
— 84 History.com. This Year in History, Disaster, July 20, 1977. Second Flood Hits Johnstown
— 78 USGS. Summary of Significant Floods in…US…PR…VI, 1970 Through 1989. 2008.
— 77 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 187.
— 77 Gelber. The Pennsylvania Weather Book. 2006, 214.
— 76 Ludlum. The American Weather Book. 1982, pp. 82, p. 161.
— 40 US DHS. Dams Sector: Estimating Loss of Life for Dam Failure Scenarios. 2011, p.76.
* “Seventy-six people were killed (10 more are missing)…”
** “At least 78 deaths were attributed to the floods, and eight persons were still listed as missing 1 year later.”
***Seventy-eight deaths and eight missing, which, if added to the known deaths comes to 86.
Narrative Information
Cornell: “The ill-fated city of Johnstown, site of the most famous flood in American history, in 1889, again suffered a massive deluge, this time killing 77 people, destroying 500 homes, damaging another 2,000, producing $200 million in damages, and costing at 1,000 jobs due to plant and shop closings.
“The second great Johnstown flood was caused by a heavy rainfall – nearly 9 inches in 8 hours – that overwhelmed flood-control systems and broke the Laurel Run Dam, sending some 100 million gallons of water pouring into the streets.
“Some victims were not found for months, with the body of one little girl discovered in the Conemaugh River on May 31, 1978, nearly a year later. The girl’s sister, brother, and mother also died in the flood.” (Cornell. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 187.)
DHS: “Laurel Run Dam was located on Laurel Run approximately 4 miles north of Johnstown (Laurel Run Dam should not be confused with the South Fork Dam which failed in 1889. Laurel Run Dam was located approximately 8 air miles from the South Fork Dam). After flowing out of Laurel Run Dam, water traveled approximately 2.5 miles before entering the Conemaugh River at a point that is approximately 3 river miles downstream from Johnstown. The earthfill dam was constructed to provide a water supply.
“The dam failed at 2:35 am on Wednesday, July 20, 1977. The 63-year-old dam failed from overtopping during an area-wide storm (flood damage occurred throughout the Johnstown area).
“Laurel Run Dam had a height of 42 feet. The reservoir had a storage capacity of 310 acre-feet with the reservoir at the spillway crest. The amount of water in the reservoir when it failed is not known, but perhaps was approximately 450 acre-feet.
“The National Weather Service did not issue any flash flood watches or warnings for the Johnstown area until 2:40 am. The flashflood warning issued at that time was generic and did not name any specific area or stream within the two counties for which the warning applied.
“There was no one at the site to observe the dam and no one decided to warn or evacuate. No warnings were issued in the 2.5-mile-long reach where the greatest devastation occurred. In addition, cues of the approaching dam failure floodwave, which might have allowed for a last-minute escape, may have gone unnoticed. Any last-minute escape/evacuation that did occur was surely hampered by the rain and darkness that accompanied the arrival of dam failure flooding. About 30 houses suffered major damage in the 2.5-mile-long reach. A memorial and plaque at the mouth of Laurel Run listed 40 different names when viewed in 1981 and it is presumed that all of the fatalities occurred in the first 2.5 miles downstream of the dam….The dam was not rebuilt….” (US DHS. “Laurel Run Dam, Pennsylvania – Failed in July 1977,” pp. 76-77 in: Dams Sector: Estimating Loss of Life for Dam Failure Scenarios. 2011.)
Gelber: “”History would sadly be repeated on a steamy July night in 1977, when a small cluster of thunderstorms seemed to stall, or essentially regenerate over the Conemaugh Valley and the surrounding mountains above Johnstown on the night of July 19.
“The thunderstorm complex brought heavy rain commencing around 8:30 p.m. on the nineteenth…and did not let up until around 4:30 a.m. in the morning of the twentieth. Rainfall totals as high as 12.00 inches were measured in West Taylor Township northwest of Johnstown. Torrents of water poured off the deep hillsides of Cambria County into the Little Conemaugh River, which meets the Conemaugh just above Johnstown. A break in the Laurel Run Dam sent an angry wall of rushing water 10 feet high through the valley into Johnstown without warning, sweeping way unsuspecting residents in their homes and cars….
“The flash flood that struck Johnstown in July 1977 took at least seventy-seven lives and caused $424 million of damage…” (Gelber. The Pennsylvania Weather Book. 2006, 213-214.)
Hamburg: “West Taylor Township — There are countless stories to tell from the 1977 flood, which happened 40 years ago this week. And one area hit the hardest was Tanneryville. Out of the 85 people who died in the flood, nearly half lived in Tanneryville….
“What gave way was the Laurel Run Dam. Rushing water devastated the community of Tanneryville and continued rushing to the city of Johnstown….” (Hamburg, D. “Tanneryville man remembers devastation from 1977 Johnstown Flood.” WJAC TV6, Johnstown, PA, 7-19-2017.)
History.com: “A flash flood hits Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on this day in 1977, killing 84 people and causing millions of dollars in damages. This flood came 88 years after the infamous Great Flood of 1889 that killed more than 2,000 people in Johnstown. As they had in the first flood, the dams in the Conemaugh Valley failed, bringing disaster to the town.
“The flood occurred when an extraordinary amount of rain came down in the Conemaugh Valley in a short period of time. Nearly 12 inches were measured in 10 hours. The National Weather Service later estimated that this amount of rain in that location should happen less than once every 1,000 years.
“The largest dam that burst was at Laurel Run. This 10-year-old earthen dam held back 100 million gallons of water. Despite having a 42-foot-high spillway, the dam failed and the resulting flood devastated the town of Tanneryville. Five other dams in the area also burst, releasing another 30 million gallons of water over the landscape.
“The failure of the dams came as a big surprise. Johnstown had constructed an entire system designed to completely eliminate the flood risk. In addition, regular inspections had turned up no defects. Still, the dams were no match for the thunderstorm that stalled over the area on July 20.
In addition to the 84 people who lost their lives to the flood, $300 million in damages were suffered and hundreds of people lost their homes. President Carter declared the region a federal disaster area and the National Guard was sent to assist in the relief efforts. Despite millions spent to rehabilitate the Johnstown area, the economy never recovered. The city’s population decreased nearly 15 percent in the aftermath of the flood, as people moved away to rebuild their lives elsewhere.” (History.com. This Year in History, July 20, 1977. “Second Great Flood Hits Johnstown.”)
Kozlovac: “Between the afternoon of July 19th, and the morning of July 20th, 1977, the people of Johnstown found out that their city which was touted to be flood proof was indeed still vulnerable to Mother Nature’s ravages. During this period, two major squall lines moved across Pennsylvania. The first storm formed just west of Pittsburgh and moved east-southeastward dropping approximately one inch of precipitation over the Johnstown area. The second line of thunderstorms formed over northwestern Pennsylvania and slowly moved toward the southeast. The second line of storms became quasi-stationary above the Johnstown area. Radar information during the period of storm activity indicated that twelve separate thunderstorm cells moved over the Johnstown area. These storms let loose blinding and deafening displays of thunder and lightning. The bulk of the precipitation fell during a period of 6-9 hours over the Johnstown area. My hometown of Nanty Glo, Pennsylvania, which is 10 miles north of Johnstown, received 12 inches of rain during the 24hours in which the storm occurred. To illustrate how localized the brunt of the storm actually was, areas 30 miles to the southwest of Johnstown received negligible or no precipitation during the same 24 hour period. This excess rainfall caused the Conemaugh River flood, its discharge was measured as 115,000 feet per second. The Channel Improvement was designed to contain only 81,500 cubic feet per second. By dawn, Johnstown was at least under six feet of water, which covered 64% of the city’s land area. The U.S. Geologic Survey (U.S.G.S.) and the Army Corps of Engineers classified the July, 1977 flood, as being a 500 year flood. The stage at the Conemaugh River gauging station reached 95% of the Army Corps of Engineers estimated standard project flood.
“The heavy rains had also caused seven privately owned, earthfill, gravity-type dams to fail. The collapse of the Laurel Run Dam however, was the only dam failure which resulted in fatalities. The Laurel Run Dam was the largest of the seven earth work dams which failed with a 101 million gallon capacity. When the dam broke the water which was held back poured down on the small village of Tanneryville killing forty-one people. Of the other dams which failed two were considered minor dams and the remaining four were small dams built without state permits.
“After the rain had stopped and flooding had subsided the job of sorting through the aftermath began. It was found that 78 people had lost their lives during the flood and eight people were missing. There was also 2,700 other individuals who were either sick or injured due to the flood. The city of Johnstown had suffered an estimated 117 million dollars in property damages, while damages to the surrounding areas was estimated at 213 million dollars. On July 21, 1977, the President of the United States declared Johnstown a disaster area. The Red Cross reported that 413 houses, 135 mobile homes, and 52 housing units were totally destroyed, while 5,256 dwelling units sustained major damage. 405 business structures were also destroyed of which half were located in downtown Johnstown. Bethlehem Steel Corporation, the area’s largest employer, estimated that total damages to its facilities would total 35-40 million dollars. Over the next year, the federal government would spend nearly 200 million dollars on the Johnstown area, for rebuilding damaged facilities and loaning funds or giving grants to property owners for reconstruction and repair….” (Kozlovac, Joseph P. Adventures in Flood Control: The Johnstown, Pennsylvania Story. Urban Areas as Environments, 4-19-1995, pp. 9-10.)
NOAA: “The Johnstown, Pennsylvania, area experienced flash flooding as a result of almost continuous rains from about 7:00 p.m., July 19 to 4:00 a.m., July 20. Rainfall intensities during much of this time averaged 2 in/hr., with maximum rainfall totals of 12 in. recorded northeast of Johnstown” (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1977).
USGS: “Flooding was severe along the east side of the Allegheny River Basin. Johnstown, located where the Stonycreek and Little Conemaugh Rivers join to form the Conemaugh River, was adversely affected by the flood. Water 4 to 8 ft deep flowed through the downtown streets.
“Seven earth-fill, gravity-type dams failed in the area. The worst dam failure, located on Laurel Run, caused 44 deaths. Maximum discharges of record were recorded at 11 streamflow-gaging stations in the area. Of these 11 stations, 6 recorded discharges with recurrence intervals of 100 years or greater. Overall, the catastrophic floods were responsible for 78 deaths (Paulson and others, 1991), destroying 413 dwellings and causing major damage to 1,363 homes. Eight counties were declared Federal disaster areas, and an estimated $300 million in damages occurred (Paulson and others, 1991).” (USGS. Summary of Significant Floods in…US…PR…VI, 1970 Through 1989. 2008.)
Sources
Comptroller General of the United States. Report by the Comptroller General of the United States – The Johnstown Area Flood of 1977: A Case Study For the Future. Washington, DC: US General Accounting Office, 5-12-1978, Accessed 4-29-2020 at: https://www.gao.gov/assets/130/122799.pdf
Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.
Gelber, Ben. The Pennsylvania Weather Book. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2002. Google preview accessed 1-4-2018 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=34RKv9fMFo4C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Hamburg, Daniel. “Tanneryville man remembers devastation from 1977 Johnstown Flood.” WJAC TV6, Johnstown, PA, 7-19-2017. Accessed 4-29-2020 at: https://wjactv.com/news/local/tanneryville-man-remembers-devastation-from-1977-johnstown-flood
History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, July 20, 1977. “Second Great Flood Hits Johnstown.” Accessed 12-7-2008 at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=07/20&categoryId=disaster
Hoxit, L. Ray, Robert A. Maddox, Charles F. Chappell (NOAA), and Stan A. Brua (USGS). Johnstown-Western Pennsylvania Storm and Floods of July 19-20, 1977 (Geological Survey Professional Paper 1211). U.S. Geological Survey and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Washington, DC: U.S. Gov. Printing Office, 1982. Accessed 4-29-2020 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Johnstown_western_Pennsylvania_Storm_and/hUziJP0qidoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Johnstown-Western+Pennsylvania+Storm+and+Floods+of+July+19-20,+1977&printsec=frontcover
Kozlovac, Joseph P. Adventures in Flood Control: The Johnstown, Pennsylvania Story. Urban Areas as Environments, 4-19-1995. Accessed 4-29-2020 at: https://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/floods/papers/Johnstown_flood.pdf
Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1982.
United States Department of Homeland Security. Dams Sector: Estimating Loss of Life for Dam Failure Scenarios. September 2011, 94 pages. Accessed 12-2-2017 at: https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=726315
United States Geological Survey. Summary of Significant Floods in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, 1970 Through 1989 (Water-Supply Paper 2502). USGS Kansas Water Science Center, Sep 17, 2008. Accessed 11-12-2016 at: http://ks.water.usgs.gov/pubs/reports/wsp.2502.contents.html#HDR1
— 8 Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “U.S. Board to Investigate State Crash Fatal for 8.” 7-15-1977, p. 1.
— 8 NTSB. Highway Accident Report. Midas Mini Motor Home/Auto Collision… 4-13-1978.
Narrative Information
National Transportation Safety Board: Synopsis
“About 4:20 p.m., on July 14, 1977, a 1972 Ford Sedan southbound on U.S. Route 69 about 19.4 miles south of McAlester, Oklahoma, went out of control on wet pavement, crossed the centerline sideways and collided with a northbound Midas Mini Motor Home. All six persons in the sedan were killed; the driver and right front passenger in the motor home were also killed and the six other passengers of the motor home were injured.
“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was a combination of the low skid resistance of the wet road surface and the lax operating maintenance by the owner of the Ford sedan which permitted the use of an unsafe tire and the imbalanced capability of the brake system. A factor contributing to the accident was the driver’s unfamiliarity with the mechanical condition of the Ford sedan. Contributing to the severity of the injuries were the failure of the front seat occupants of the motor home to wear the available seatbelts and the failure of the door latch assembly.
“The Board made recommendations to the State of Oklahoma, the Federal Highway Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association of the United States, Inc.
“Recommendations
“As a result of its investigation of this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended: to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation:
“Post warning signs conforming to the requirements of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices on the resurfaced 5.18-mile section of U.S. Route 69 to advise motorists that the surface is slippery when wet. These signs should be maintained until the skid resistance on the overlay surface is increased. (Class I, Urgent Action) (H-77-35) (Issued January 10, 1978)
“Evaluate the pavement design and construction practices used on this project in order to eliminate any possibility for this condition to reoccur. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-77-36) (Issued January 10, 1978)
“Expedite the application of necessary materials to remedy the low skid resistance condition on the 5.18-mile resurfaced section of U.S. Route 69. (Class II, Priority Action) (U-77-37) (Issued January 10, 1978)”
“to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:
“Revise FMVSS 206 to require performance tests on door latch assemblies rather than the non-dynamic, laboratory tests as described in the Society of Automotive Engineers Recommended Practice, SAE J8396. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-78-15) (Issued March 22, 1978)
“Work with the Society of Automotive Engineers to devise methods of testing to demonstrate experimentally the satisfactory performance of latching systems. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-78-16)” (Issued March 22, 1978)
“to the State of Oklahoma Department of Transportation:
“Have its skid trailer calibrated at a Federal Highway Administration test center as soon as possible and inform the Safety Board when the calibration is completed. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-78-17)”
“to the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association of the United States, Inc.:
“Inform its members of the details of the unwanted actuation of the door latch and encourage them to consider ways to prevent such failures in the manufacture of future door-latch assemblies. (Class I, Urgent Action) (H-78-18)”
“to the Federal Highway Administration:
“Develop expeditiously procedures to determine the skid resistant characteristics of newly constructed and resurfaced roadways before they are opened to the public. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-78-19)”
(National Transportation Safety Board. Highway Accident Report. Midas Mini Motor Home/Auto Collision U.S. Route 69, Near McAlester, Oklahoma July 14, 1977 (NTSB HAR-78/02; NTIS No. PB-282171/AS). Washington, DC: NTSB, adopted 4-13-1978.)
Newspaper
July 15: “Stringtown, Okla. (AP) – The National Transportation Safety Board sent three investigators today to the southeast Oklahoma area where eight persons died in the crash of a mobile home and a car. A board spokesman said the team, which will include Anthony L. Schmieg of Washington, chief of the highway safety division, would investigate the accident because of its “catastrophic nature.”
“Police said six members of one Oklahoma family in a car and a Virginia father and his daughter in the motor home were killed Thursday afternoon [July 14] when the car apparently swerved into the left lane of rain-slickened U.S. 69 four miles north of here and was hit broadside by the motor home.
“The board spokesman said the team would conduct the same type of investigation the board makes after major airplane crashes. While the team will look at all aspects of the accident, he said, the major areas of investigation will be the condition of the highway, occupant restraints — such as seatbelts — and whether they were in use, and the crashworthiness of the motor home. The other two members of the team will come from Kansas City. They were due on the scene about midafternoon while Schmieg was expected about 8 p.m.
“The dead were taken to Atoka Memorial Hospital and some of the injured were treated and released at McAlester General West Hospital. The dead were identified as: Linda D. Roberson, 29, Wilburton. Okla.; her husband, Boyce Joe Roberson, age not determined; their daughters, Melanie 3 and Amy, 8; Mrs. Roberson’s mother, Ester Mae McCabe, 51; and her daughter, Carrie Kirkman, 12. In the mobile home, the driver, Robert Burton Robey, 41, of Fredericksburg, Va., and his daughter, Michelle Janis Robey, 12, were killed.
“A dozen Highway Patrol troopers and several local police units were sent to the scene.” (Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “U.S. Board to Investigate State Crash Fatal for 8.” 7-15-1977, pp. 1, 4.)
Sources
Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “U.S. Board to Investigate State Crash Fatal for 8.” 7-15-1977, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=207174256&sterm
National Transportation Safety Board. Highway Accident Report. Midas Mini Motor Home/Auto Collision U.S. Route 69, Near McAlester, Oklahoma July 14, 1977 (NTSB HAR-78/02; NTIS No. PB-282171/AS). Washington, DC: NTSB, adopted 4-13-1978. Accessed 6-2-2013 at: http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/summary/HAR7802.htm
— 42 Mills, Kimberly. “Maury County Jail Fire, Maury County, TN, June 26, 1977.”
— 42 NFPA. “42 Die in Maury County, Tennessee, Jail Fire.” Fire Journal, March 1978, 30-33.
— 42 National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996.
— 42 National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. 1983, p. 137.
— 42 National Fire Sprinkler Association. F.Y.I. 1999, 7.
Narrative Information
Mills: “On June 26, 1977, a fire in the Maury County Jail killed 42 people. The fire was started by Andy Zimmer, who had run away from a residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed teenagers in Dousman, Wisconsin. Police had picked up Zimmer earlier in the week on Interstate 65 for hitchhiking. While in custody at the Maury County Jail, he set fire to his padded cell, causing toxic gases and smoke to fill the jail through the ventilation system. Deputies were able to pull Zimmer from his cell, but other deputies, trying to free the rest of the jail’s population, collided with panicked visitors and the only set of cell keys was knocked to the floor. It took several minutes to recover them, and by then most of the inmates had already succumbed to asphyxiation.
“Overall, 42 people were killed: 34 inmates and 8 visitors. An additional 30 people suffered injuries. Zimmer was taken to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville with burns covering 25% of his body and was listed in critical condition. Facility inspectors had given the Maury County Jail a passing grade only the week before, citing that it met all necessary standards and ranking it 18th in a field of 102. However, the jail did not require a sprinkler system, nor was there an automatic cell lock system that could have been used to free all the inmates quickly; instead, each cell had to be individually unlocked, effectively trapping the jail’s inhabitants in the fire.
“The majority of the jail’s inmates were not convicts; most were recent arrests still awaiting trial. In addition to inmates, visitors to the jail also became trapped during the panic that ensued after the fire began to spread. In one tragic case the Herman family, visiting a relative in jail awaiting trial, lost six family members.” (Mills, Kimberly. “Maury County Jail Fire, Maury County, TN, June 26, 1977.” Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, TN.)
Sources
Mills, Kimberly. “Maury County Jail Fire, Maury County, TN, June 26, 1977.” Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, TN. Accessed 3-14-2013 at: http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/exhibits/disasters/fires.htm
National Fire Protection Association. “42 Die in Maury County, Tennessee, Jail Fire.” Fire Journal, March 1978, pp. 30-33. Accessed 5-29-2015 at: www.nfpa.org/…/fire…/maury-count
National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996, 2010. Accessed at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1352&itemID=30955&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Key%20dates%20in%20fire%20history&cookie%5Ftest=1
National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 1983.
National Fire Sprinkler Association, Inc. F.Y.I. – Fire Sprinkler Facts. Patterson, NY: NFSA, November 1999, 8 pages. Accessed at: http://www.firemarshals.org/data/File/docs/College%20Dorm/Administrators/F1%20-%20FIRE%20SPRINKLER%20FACTS.pdf
