Chicago Firefighters Honored For Extinguishing Jet Fire At O'Hare
(CBS) -- By a unanimous vote, the Chicago City Council Wednesday honored the firefighters who responded to the Oct. 28 fire aboard an American Airlines jet as it prepared to take off for Miami.
The aldermen lauded the first-responder for executing what they had learned in training and their cool under pressure, knowing that the burning engine was leaking jet fuel and could explode at any time.
"It was terrible. It could have gone wrong in a lot of ways," Fire Lt. Lloyd Zamba said. "Everyone did what they were supposed to do, and training took over."
The department's Deputy Chief for Airport Operations, Michael Carbone, said when airport firefighters are not practicing for just such as disaster, they are in classroom reviewing firefighting techniques for such occasions.
"It may only happen once in a career, but you have to be ready for it," Carbone said.
Ald. Ed Burke, in presenting the resolution, noted the similarities to the May 1979 crash of American Airlines flight 191, which lost an engine as it took off and plunged into a field near the airport. All 273 on board of that flight died.
"A similar tragedy was averted," he said.
More than 20 passengers suffered minor injuries evacuating the plane Oct. 28. A total of 161 passengers and nine crew members were aboard.
A federal investigation continues into the engine failure that caused the aborted takeoff that preceded the fire.
