Resilience: Stories of Courage and Survival in Aviation Disasters

By Ken Jenkins

Although flying is one of the safest modes of transportation, accidents do happen, and when they do, the aftermath is devastating. With today's 24- hour media access, we are bombarded by images of twisted metal, debris and personal belongings, smoldering away in a seemingly endless nightmare. Aviation disasters are like no other. The sudden loss of

• Language: English
• Publisher: SEGR Publishing LLC
• Release date: Apr 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781619200388

Book preview

Ken Jenkins hooks us by first sharing his own personal tragedies and resilience. He then takes us on a journey of the trauma, survival, and resilience of survivors of airline crashes. Ken does this by not only sharing his experience and integrating the dos and don’ts of traumatic event response, but also taking us into the mind of the care team responder. There he shares first-hand the psychological and emotional experiences of working with survivors, and also coming to know the victims of traumatic events through their families. This is a must read for all traumatic event response team members.

Steve L. Whatley, Ph.D.

Retired Police Sergeant & Crisis Interventionist

Leadership Coach • Organization Consultant

During my career I’ve conducted accident investigations on behalf of the U.S. Navy, the National Transportation Safety Board, and American Airlines. From 1995 till 2003 I was in charge of accident investigations at American Airlines. Prior to American Airlines my accident investigation experience was totally on the technical and operational side. While at American I was quickly and fully exposed to the family assistance challenges of aircraft accidents. It proved to be an eye-opening experience; fortunately for me, Ken Jenkins and others like him were there to get us through those challenges.

I’ve always had a problem with academic folks who write books and teach classes about things they’ve never done. They’ve read and researched but they’ve never walked the walk. This book’s credibility is established by the experience of its author, Ken Jenkins. I lived through several of the accidents referenced in this book. I saw Ken, along with his peers, struggle as they assisted family and friends of accident victims. The human experiences shared in this book are real and few people can tell this story.

If you’re going to read one book on post-accident family assistance this is the one to read. You will not find another author with more experience and knowledge on this topic than Ken Jenkins.

Tommy McFall

Aircraft Accident Investigation,

Reconstruction, and Expert Witness

Resilience

Stories of Courage and

Survival in Aviation Disasters

Ken Jenkins

Resilience

Stories of Courage and Survival in Aviation Disasters

Published by:

SEGR Publishing

Grapevine, TX USA

www.SEGRPublishing.com

Edited by: Heidi Clingen

www.allwritey.com

Final edit and proofreading by: Elaine Bellamore Phillips

Cover design by Andrea Ferguson

www.320designs.com

Copyright © 2015 by Kenneth Jenkins

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014953894

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or

transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission

of the author.

Photos provided by:

National Transportation Safety Board

Michael L Dransfield, Flight 102 photos

AP Images

ISBN: 978-1-61920-036-4 (print)

ISBN: 978-1-61920-038-8 (eBook)

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the victim’s families, who after losing their loved one(s) so tragically, I was privileged to assist. Their spirit of survival, resilience and empathy continue to inspire me today.

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. They Said We Would Never Use the Training — Flight 102

2. Ice Tragedy — Flight 4184

3. Not again! — Flight 3379

4. Silent Night — Flight 965

5. We Can’t Stop — Flight 1420

6. Weapons of Mass Destruction — Flights 11 and 77

7. Wake Turbulence — Flight 587

8. Doing Business As… — Flight 5966

Conclusion

Acronyms

Appendix: A Brief History of Aviation Disaster Response

About the Author

Preface

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, there were a number of high profile accidents, which would bring the topic of airline family assistance to the forefront of the news. Events and accidents such as the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, US Air Flight 5050, US Air Flight 405, US Air Flight 427, American Eagle Flight 4184, ValuJet 592 and TWA 800. According to families, there were a number of shortcomings with how airlines responded in the aftermath of these disasters which only made the loss of their loved one even worse.

This led to the creation of family advocacy groups, which in turn, lobbied Congress for legislation to change how airlines should, and would, respond in the aftermath of a disaster. Because of the strength, courage and resilience of these survivors and family members, The Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996 (The Act) was signed by President Bill Clinton on September 6, 1996.

The Act was designed to ensure a coordinated response from the necessary stakeholders such as the airline having the accident, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) the American Red Cross (ARC), the Department of State (DOS) as well as a number of other agencies. In addition, The Federal Family Assistance Plan For Aviation Disasters specifies Victim Support Tasks (VSTs) for seven organizations to perform in the aftermath of an air disaster (www.ntsb.gov). The Act gave permission to the aviation industry to talk about accidents, specifically, how to respond to them.

The goal, provide information and access to services for families and survivors, as quickly as possible and to reduce the second assaults similar to the ones family members and survivors of accidents had previously experienced.

Until The Act was signed in 1996, most airlines simply had family assistance plans written within their policies and procedures manual. To my knowledge there was not a formal, active educational training program within the airline industry until American Airlines began their family assistance program in 1993. What I do know, is the survivors and family members of aviation accidents spoke loud and clear. Something had to change in the way airlines responded to an accident. Today, there is some form of aviation family assistance legislation in Australia, Brazil, China, the European Union, Korea, and the United Kingdom. In addition, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have policy documents and guidelines regarding family assistance in aviation disasters.

For over 20 years, I have witnessed the resilience and perseverance of victims’ family members and survivors who have chosen to use their personal experience to enhance post-crisis management policy and procedures for future aviation accident victims and their families. I have been privileged to work with many of these individuals over the years and am grateful for their dedication to the post-crisis management and family assistance. They are a true testimony to resilience, courage and survival.

Acknowledgements

If it were not for family, I would not be able to do the work I do. For the families I have served, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to serve during such a tragic time. Your strength, resolve, warmth and graciousness, were and are, gifts to the spirit of human resiliency. Thank you!

For my family, thank you for never ending support. We have each experienced tragedies and our faith in God, family, humor and determination have seen us through difficult times. Survival definitely describes our family! Thank you, Lorraine, for your patience and willingness to work with me on this endeavor. You have a very sharp eye. Larry, you show me how to keep going even when it seems like we shouldn’t. For my partner, David, thank you for your belief in me. Most of all, thank you for always being willing to listen when I needed to talk. Most of all, I would like to thank my mother. She was the true example of resilience and survival. I love you Mom and I miss you every day.

A special thank you to my Angels. What a blessing to work and respond with such compassionate, caring, professional individuals. I will never be able to express how much you mean to me.

Introduction

From the time I was a little boy I wanted to be a lawyer. I competed in speech, debate, and extemporaneous speaking contests in school. I studied British Constitutional Law and Political Science. Everything I did was in preparation to become a lawyer. Then I decided to travel the world for a year before going to law school. I went to work for American Airlines (AA). However, the allure of the fast-paced and exciting airline business was difficult to pull away from. American Airlines was growing and providing opportunities for advancement so I stayed…longer than I initially thought I would.

Working for American Airlines changed the trajectory of my life. Instead of burying myself in legal tomes, I initially worked in Reservation Sales, then in Airport Operations before moving into Human Resources as a management analyst.

Early in my career with American my grandfather and my father died within a few months of each other. Soon thereafter my brother committed suicide. When the Medical Examiner (M.E.) called my mother and asked her if she was alone she replied, Yes. Just tell me which one of my children is dead. Our family had experienced three deaths in nine months. My mother was as courageous as she was resilient. She was strong, having grown up in England during World War II. While grieving the family losses, she kept all of us together with her strength and sense of humor. Thankfully, those traits run in my family. For example, when my brother’s funeral service was scheduled, my nephew wondered aloud, What do we wear that no one has seen us wear over the past few months? I tried not to smile but I couldn’t help myself. Nervously, the smile turned into a laugh. I was grateful when my sister and my mother