Hard to believe it's been 40 years since the Air Florida crash into the 14th Street Bridge [View all]
in DC during a snowstorm. Here's a look back.
The date also marked the first deaths on the Metrorail system after a train derailed.
As Washington was in the grip of a snowstorm 40 years ago, an Air Florida jet struggling to get out of Washington National Airport slammed into the 14th Street Bridge and plunged into the Potomac River. Seventy-eight people died.
The Jan. 13, 1982, crash happened well before the age of ubiquitous phone cameras, but images of the aftermath — including daring rescues by a National Park Service helicopter and bystanders on the shore — were captured by local news crews. The indelible images were broadcast around the world.
“The helicopter rescues were so dramatic,” said Jeff Marcus, chief of safety recommendations at the National Transportation Safety Board. “You couldn’t have staged it better if you were staging it.”'
https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/01/13/air-florida-crash-40-years/?
((I remember it well, was walking home in SW across the Mall from my office in Federal Triangle.))
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