Guy Eby
Guy Eby (November 9, 1918 – July 30, 2021) was an American airline captain who kept the commercial airplane he was flying (American Airlines Flight 182) from colliding with another one (TWA Flight 37) on November 26, 1975, following a mistake from an air traffic controller in Cleveland, Ohio.[1]
Early life
[edit]Eby was born on November 9, 1918, in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.[2] He received the Air Medal in 1946 for his services for United States Navy (1938–1950)[3] against Japan in 1945 towards the end of World War II.[4] He flew in the Berlin Blockade. He joined American Airlines in 1950.
1975 flight incident
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The two planes, carrying a combined 319 passengers and crew members—192 passengers and 13 crew members on board American Airlines Flight 182, plus 103 passengers and 11 crew members on board Trans World Airlines (TWA) Flight 37—were reportedly just 100 feet (30 m) away from each other as they flew over the city of Carleton, Michigan. Eby's plane (an American Airlines DC-10 flying that day as Flight 182) was headed towards Newark, New Jersey, from Chicago, Illinois; it had originated in San Francisco, California. The other plane (a TWA Lockheed L-1011 TriStar flying that day as Flight 37) was heading from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Los Angeles, California.
Eby quickly lowered his plane's altitude at 35,000 feet (11,000 m) amidst a significant cloud cover, an action which ultimately saved the lives of his passengers and the flight crew. All 10 flight attendants plus 14 passengers suffered injuries on the American Airlines plane (the incident occurred while dinner was being served), and it was forced to make an emergency landing in Detroit.[5][6] At the time, Eby had already logged flight time of nearly 22,000 hours. Had the collision not been avoided, it would have been the greatest aviation disaster in the history of United States up to that time.[7]
The TWA plane involved in the incident was later destroyed by a fire on July 30, 1992, while flying as TWA Flight 843.[8]
Later life
[edit]Eby retired from American Airlines in 1978. Eby turned 100 on November 9, 2018, in Ormond Beach, Florida, where he had resided since 1983.[9] One of the passengers in the American Airlines Flight 182, Burt Herman (who was flying with his wife Elaine, his twin daughters Laura and Leslie and son Larry at that time), wrote and published a book about Eby and the incident, called Eby: Master of the Moment in 2018.[10] He died in Ormond Beach on July 30, 2021, at the age of 102.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ "High-altitude gratitude: Passenger in near-miss thanks pilot after 41 years". News-Journalonline. February 10, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- ^ "Proclamation". Ormondbeach.org. December 4, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- ^ Holt, Tony. "Ormond pilot who saved 100s feted by survivors as hero for his 100th birthday". Daytona Beach News-Journal Online. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
- ^ "Receives Air Medal". The Evening News (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania). November 20, 1946. Archived from the original on November 3, 2019.
- ^ "Controller's Failure To Warn Nearly Caused Air Collision". The Evening Sun. February 28, 1976. p. 1. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- ^ "Controller's Failure To Warn Nearly Caused Air Collision". The Evening Sun. February 28, 1976. p. 3. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- ^ "The Longest Minute". The Journal Herald. March 6, 1976. p. 21. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1 N11002 New York-John F. Kennedy International Airport, NY (JFK)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
- ^ "Ormond Beach hero pilot turns 100". Ormond Beach Observer. November 12, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- ^ "Oak Brook man to share tale of mid-air collision and his book about it". The Chicago Tribune. August 6, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- ^ "Guy Eby". Dignity Memorial. Retrieved 5 August 2021.