Vintage Chicago Tribune: Remembering the 273 victims of American Airlines Flight 191
Have you ever been surprised to learn that something terrifying and heartbreaking once happened in your own hometown, Chicago?
I grew up near O’Hare International Airport in Des Plaines — “French for by the airport,” my father-in-law affectionately jokes. The roar of jets ascending to cruising altitude over our ranch-style home was constant.
Yet, in 2019, I was shocked to read about the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 for the first time. On May 25, 1979 — the start of Memorial Day weekend — 271 people aboard the DC-10 aircraft bound for Los Angeles and two more on the ground died just 31 seconds after takeoff from O’Hare airport. It’s still the deadliest passenger airline accident on U.S. soil.
How did I not know about this disaster — or its victims? My Tribune colleagues and I rushed to assemble stories, photo galleries and a virtual memorial dedicated to the victims in advance of the 40th anniversary of the crash.
A kind, helpful resource since then has been Kim Borchers Jokl. Bill and Corrinne Borchers, parents to Kim and her siblings, Melody and Jim, died aboard Flight 191. Through the decades, they have worked to connect friends and family members of Flight 191 victims. They just published a book about their experiences called “Safe Landing: A family’s journey following the crash of American Airlines Flight 191.” It’s available to purchase through Long Overdue Books.
I asked Kim to share some thoughts about the crash, its 43rd anniversary next week and her fight to make sure none of these victims are ever forgotten. Here are her responses sent earlier this week to me via email.
Q&A with Kim Borchers Jokl: Flight 191
Why and where were your parents traveling on May 25, 1979?
Jokl: “As you will read in the book, our parents Corrinne and Bill Borchers, better known as Nudy and Bill, decided to plan a second honeymoon and take a trip, as I was to be married on June 2, 1979 — but mutually called it off. I was also graduating from college later in June. I left for Acapulco with friends and two days later, they boarded American Airlines Flight 191 on May 25, 1979. Final destination — Hawaii.”
Can you describe what it feels like to lose both your parents at such a young age? How did you and your siblings cope?
Jokl: “Melody was 32, Jim was 29 and I was 23 years old at the time of the crash. Numbness would best describe our initial feelings as we were all in shock, going through the motions of a memorial service without anyone identified ... followed by 2 funerals once they were both identified, but not at the same time.
We all coped in our own ways. I still lived at home at the time of the crash, and had the hardest time initially coping. Even being together at times in the early years was difficult as our roles had changed and when we were getting there was the constant reminder of our Mom and Dad missing. But through some very difficult years we never stopped getting together for all of what our Mom would call ‘Red Letter Days’ — birthdays, Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day, Memorial Day etc. About two years after the crash, I turned to professional counseling to get my life back on track. Jim will tell you he was numb and has very little memory of the first years following the crash. Melody kept getting us all together as she was married with a child at the time of the crash and also struggled, but had a husband and child to care for and fill a horrible void. Also, our Mom wrote her a very long letter on her 32nd birthday in January (1979), detailing how if and when she could no longer get us all together she requested that Melody, her first born please continue our traditions and keep getting us together. Little did she think when she read that letter in January that it would be her directive in four months and has continued to be for 43 years.”
What inspired you to contact and meet with family and friends of other victims?
Jokl: “As time went on, and anniversaries of the crash passed with little or no mention in the newspaper, it troubled especially me and Melody, that nothing was ever done by American Airlines, or whoever the powers that be to remember the worst non-terrorist crash in the US. 273 individuals disappear in a fiery crash and are not remembered collectively in any way.
So around the 23rd anniversary, Melody Jim and I decided to set out to first find the spot of the plane crash. We were finally able to open boxes of newspaper clippings, look and find where our parents died and, realistically, were buried. We were also combing articles in newspapers and obituaries 23 years after the fact, sending letters blindly asking if they were related to a person lost on the flight.
That field trip, to find the crash site, led us to getting out on the crash site with our spouses, some O’Hare officials, Father Mike Zaniolo, O’Hare chaplain, and by that visit, we had found Michael Lux, the son of the pilot, Walter Lux and Mrs. Dillard, the wife of the co-pilot. Once on the site, we knew other people who lost a loved one should be granted the same experience, so we asked the O’Hare officials if we could try to find families who lost loved ones and organize a 25th anniversary in the Chapel and bring who attended out on the site. They said it could be done and so, by the time of the 25th we found about 20 families and the O’Hare chapel was filled with many airline employees, who lost colleagues on the flight, first and second responders who responded to the crash and family and friends.
It was a great day finally meeting people who all in some way share in the agony of May 25, 1979. We all vowed to keep searching for families — there was no Google and a memorial of some sort or place to gather was the goal. Fast forward to Decatur Classical School in Chicago in 2009, where I was the Assistant Principal.”
Can you share how the memorial site for Flight 191 victims was chosen and what it means to your family?
Jokl: “The 6th grade students at Decatur Classical in 2009, participated in ‘Project Citizen,’ a national civic education program coordinated by the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago. Project Citizen allowed students to look at issues in their community, analyze public policies and try to make a difference.
They chose American Airlines Flight 191 that had been forgotten and the need for a memorial as their project! 60 bright determined 6th graders, presented their project at the Dirksen Federal Building on May 22, 2010, and it won and went on to be a nationally recognized winning project! Key public figures supported the work and ideas presented by the students and teachers.
On Oct. 15, 2011, the Flight 191 Memorial in Lake Park, Des Plaines, was dedicated. Finally, 32 years after the crash, there was a place to gather, remember and honor those lost on May 25, 1979, just down the road from where 273 lives were lost and 1000′s changed forever. It is the place that we gather every May 25th and throughout the year to visit and remember in a beautiful setting 273 beautiful souls.”
How are you and your siblings planning to mark the anniversary this year?
Jokl: “As we have since 2011, we will mark the anniversary by visiting the Flight 191 Memorial in Lake Park, meet others possibly visiting, share stories and go out for lunch to let our folks know they have never been forgotten. Jim, Melody and I have always met somewhere on May 25, with our spouses and sometimes entire family to remember and celebrate our parents, Nudy and Bill.”
When did you, your brother and sister decide to write a book about your parents? And, what was that process like?
Jokl: “Melody and I always talked about writing the story of our journey for our kids so they would know and have all of the memorabilia — 3 large bins full — in one book, with our story so they would know not only the facts of how their grandparents, great-grandparents died, but how fragile life is. It’s a lesson we learned the hard way and how Flight 191 impacted our lives and how we embrace life because of it a bit differently.
We made good on our promise, invited Jim to join us and the 3 of us have met every Thursday, since September 2017, when I was officially retired, for Book Club. Did we miss a few sure, but not many. We met Chris O’Brien, founder/owner of Long Overdue Books through a friend of Melody’s and he and his staff helped us put the finishing touches, edits, 200 photos and stories together resulting in a historical book to present to our family. He encouraged us to write more stories and our ‘Safe Landing’ book that we are launching this week, of course has 1/10 the number of photos, the same historical timeline story of our Flight 191 journey, sprinkled with stories of growing up as the children of Nudy and Bill Borchers in Chicago, so the reader has more a sense of who they were and what our family was all about as well as before May 25, 1979.”
Where and how can people pick up a copy of your book?
Jokl: “Currently, people can pick up a copy of Safe Landing by visiting longoverduebooks.com. Click on picture of our book to order.”
What advice do you have for people who have lost a loved one?
Jokl: “When we presented our family with hard cover books last September, we included a letter to them reflecting on our purpose in writing this book and what we realized and learned as a result.
An excerpt from that letter reads, ‘Part of our hearts will forever mourn our parents’ deaths but that hasn’t stopped us from building wonderful lives and beautiful families.’”
Until next time ...
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— Kori Rumore, visual reporter
Chicago history | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games | Today’s eNewspaper edition
The legacy of Flight 191
The crash changed air travel forever.
Faces of the victims
We wanted to learn more about the people whose lives were lost that day. So we asked family members and friends to share their recollections.
‘Everyone who died was a hero’
Forty years after the crash, some who lost loved ones wondered if Flight 191 itself had also faded into the background.
Photos: The crash and aftermath
Michael Laughlin, 24, a student pilot on a layover at O’Hare in 1979, took these photos of the DC-10 with its left engine missing.
From 2011: Flight 191 memorial opens in Des Plaines
“That it’s happening at all is testimony to the persistence of a group of students from Decatur Classical School in Chicago’s West Rogers Park neighborhood,” the Tribune reported before the memorial’s unveiling.
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