96 Survive 727 Crash, 13 Die : Jetliner Explodes in Flames in Dallas Takeoff; 40 Injured : 3 Pilots of Salt Lake Bound Craft Also Live

A Delta Air Lines 727 jet crashed on takeoff and burst into flames today at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport, killing at least 13 people, but at least 94 others scrambled to safety through the shattered fuselage, officials said.

Delta spokesman Bill Berry said about 40 people among the at-least 107 on board the Salt Lake City-bound flight were seriously injured. The captain and two other pilots survived, he said.

At least 34 of the injured were admitted to seven hospitals, but hospital officials said their conditions were not immediately known. Most suffered burns, cuts or broken bones.

David Rumford, vice president of Harris HEB Hospital, said 61 survivors were brought there and 10 were admitted. At least 25 other people were confirmed to have been treated at hospitals.

Barely Cleared Ground

The plane had barely cleared the ground when it went down at 9:03 a.m., but the cause of the crash was unclear.

Joe Dealey Jr., spokesman for Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport, said the pilot, Capt. Larry Davis, 48, of Greenville, Tex., told the control tower by radio before the crash that there was smoke and fire inside the plane and that he was trying to abort the takeoff.

He requested emergency assistance, which resulted in a rapid response by firefighters after the crash seconds later. Survivors said foam and water were being sprayed onto the wreckage even before all the passengers had gotten out.

“There appears to have been a problem with the left engine, a fire or explosion when it took off, but that has not been confirmed,” FAA spokesman Jack Barker said.

Survivor Penn Waugh, a Dallas lawyer, said it appeared that the landing gear collapsed as the plane taxied into its takeoff.

“The gear collapsed, and the wing started scraping the ground,” he said of the takeoff. “It (the wing) was scraping the whole way down the runway. Then one side caught on fire.

“The pilot was trying to slow it down. We would bump and then bump. It was hard to slow down.”

Crawled Out of Hole in Roof

After the wreck, Waugh said many survivors crawled out a large hole in the roof of the plane just forward of the tail section, apparently caused by the craft’s snapping in two as it hit the ground.

“That’s where people got out,” Waugh said. “That’s where I got out.”

Ned Thurmond, a policeman in suburban Irving, was one of the first rescuers on the scene and said he found chaos.

“When we got here, survivors were popping out of the wreckage like jack rabbits,” he said. “People were running scared and screaming off to the woods. Many of the people who survived got themselves out of the wreckage.”

The plane came to rest in a level field about 1,000 feet beyond the end of the runway. It was at the opposite end of the airport from the site of the crash of a Delta Lockheed L-1011 on Aug. 2, 1985, in which 137 people died.

“We didn’t make it 50 feet in the air. We skidded, and then the engine exploded,” said passenger Jim Hammack of Garland.

“There was pandemonium,” Hammack said. “People were jumping on the plane’s wing and burning themselves on it because it was so red hot. We got out of the way fast because we thought it was going to explode.

“You could see the fuel running down the window and down the wing, and I wasn’t going to get burned,” said Hammack, whose right sleeve was streaked with jet fuel.

Flight 1141 originated in Jackson, Miss., and was taking off for Salt Lake City when it went down. It carried at least 97 passengers and seven crew members, and infants who were not on the passenger list, Berry said.

The burned-out hull, missing much of its roof and broken open just ahead of the tail, smoldered among sunflowers, four-foot prairie grass and scattered pieces of luggage. One of the plane’s three engines stood upright about 60 yards from the main wreckage, and the acrid smell of jet fuel and burned plastic lingered long after the fire was out.

Investigators had no immediate indication of the cause of the crash, said Michael Benson, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington. NTSB investigators were sent to the scene.

‘Very Minor’ Problems

Maintenance records indicated the plane, built in 1973, had only “very minor” problems in the last five years, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Bobbie Mardis said in Oklahoma City.

Ron Anderson, director of Parkland Memorial Hospital where at least half a dozen of the injured were treated, said the captain was able to talk but was in shock.

“We have to try and save his life. So we will not allow anyone to talk to him before then,” Anderson said.

“We veered to the right as we were taking off,” said Peter Wright, a passenger from Dallas who slightly injured his wrist. “I heard a banging noise under the carriage and then someone said, ‘We’re not going to make it.’ ”

“We didn’t get 10 feet off the ground when we seemed to lose power,” said Geoff Parks, Wright’s traveling companion. “I saw the right wing tip hit the ground and flames shot toward my window.”

After the crash, “there was no panic, but people were saying, ‘Let’s get out of here. Let’s get out,’ ” Parks said.

“We were just terrified,” said passenger Nona Thompson. “We jumped on the wing, but it looked like we were jumping into a pit of fire. There was a lady with a child and she got one of them out, but I’m afraid the other one was caught in the fire,” Thompson said. “I was lucky. I got a bad scrape and bruises.”

Gene Metzig of Wichita Falls saw the accident from an ASA commuter flight that had just arrived from Wichita Falls and was sitting on a connecting runway.

“His right wing was coming straight at us. It was probably no more than a foot or 18 inches off the ground. As he pulled it back to the left, I don’t know how the hell he missed us, but he missed us,” Metzig said.

‘Cheering This Guy’

Metzig said the ASA passengers “were cheering this guy to get that plane off the ground. . . . We were rooting for that pilot to get that plane up. But there was just no way.”

Jerry Weeks of Irving, who works for an airline shuttle service, arrived at the crash site within minutes and talked to survivors, some of whom were on stretchers.

“They had no idea what happened,” Weeks said, and “weren’t terribly distraught. They just asked us to call their relatives and say they were OK.”

Relatives and friends of passengers were ushered into two rooms near a chapel at the Delta terminal. Delta officials contacted several ministers from suburban Dallas-Ft. Worth to help comfort those at the terminal, said a minister who declined to give his name.