Tragedy and Triumph: Emergency Landings

28 Thursday Jul 2022

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Airline History, Bryce Canyon, Historic Markers

Tragedy and Triumph: Emergency Landings

“Tail is going out. We may get down… and we may not.”

On October 24, 1947, Captain Everett L. McMillan of United Flight 608 relayed these chilling words. The mid-section of his DC-6 engulfed in flames, McMillan was attempting to steer the disintegrating craft to Bryce Canyon Airport for an emergency landing. Moments later, the plane – carrying 47 passengers and 6 crew members – crashed in Bryce Canyon National Park, 1.5 miles short of the runway. Local residents witnessed the crash and rushed to the scene to help. Tragically, there were no survivors.

In the weeks following the accident, investigators gathered thousands of charred pieces of the aircraft to reconstruct the wreckage. During this time, on November 11, 1947, another DC-6 caught fire in flight, but quickly landed without casualties. By examining this plane and the remains of Flight 608, investigators uncovered a critical design flaw. As a result, the entire fleet of 80 DC-6 planes was grounded and repaired, including President Truman’s plane, “The Independence.”

Piecing the Story Together

The crash of flight 608 marked the first time in aviation history that a plane was reconstructed to determine the cause of the accident. By piecing together the main fuselage, investigators discovered that the fire began after a routine mid-air fuel transfer. Unwittingly, the #3 fuel tank leaked fuel out of its air vent. The fuel then streamed into the intake for the cabin heating system, where it ignited. Reconstructing aircraft wreckage is now standard procedure in airline crash investigations.

A Happier Ending

On October 6, 2000, American Airlines Flight 2821 from Denver to Los Angeles reported smoke in the cockpit and loss of cabin pressure while cruising at 33,000 feet. The MD-82 airline was immediately redirected to Bryce Canyon Airport. The aircraft and all 75 people on board landed here safely.

(Plaque located near the Bryce Canyon Airport in Bryce Canyon, Utah)

Bryce Airport: Lifeline in the Wilds

28 Thursday Jul 2022

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

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airports, Bryce Canyon, Historic Buildings, New Deal Funded, NRHP, WPA

Bryce Airport: Lifeline in the Wilds

Bryce Airport Hangar

Built in 1936, the airport’s hangar was funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which provided jobs for unemployed Americans during the Great Depression. WPA funding required matching work contributions from local communities, so local county commissioners designed the hangar and supervised construction. Built of native ponderosa pine, the hanger is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Each year, thousands of tourists arrive by air at this historic airport to see Bryce Canyon National Park.

Fire on the Plateau

Fires are a natural part of life here on the Paunsaugunt Plateau. When fires start in the region – whether by lightning, accident, or prescribed burn – the airport serves as a staging area for fire monitoring and management, as it did in 2002 during the 78,000-acre Sanford fire in Dixie National Forest.

Bryce Airport’s Vital Role

In this remote region, with major hospitals and airfields hundreds of miles away, Bryce Airport provides critical emergency support. built in 1936 as an emergency landing strip for commercial airlines, the airport has served that purpose twice since then. In 2005, American Airlines Flight 28, with more than 50 passengers on board, lost all engine power and safely landed here. Bryce Airport is also the main staging area for local search-and-rescue operations and fire management.

At 7,400 feet long, Bryce Airport’s runway is unusually long for a small airport. That’s both because it is designed to receive commercial aircraft and because of the high elevation of the runway (7,586 feet). Air is thinner at higher altitudes, providing less lift for airplanes. Heat further thins the air, forcing some small planes to avoid mid-day take-offs here during the summer.

Plaque located near the Bryce Canyon Airport in Bryce Canyon, Utah

American Original: Pronghorn on the Plateau

28 Thursday Jul 2022

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

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Bryce Canyon, Historic Markers, Pronghorns, Wildlife

American Original: Pronghorn on the Plateau

Though its genus name, Antilocapra, means “antelope goat,” the pronghorn is neither antelope nor goat. It is, instead, the sole surviving member of its genetic family, an American original. The fastest animal in the Western Hemisphere – clocked at 60 miles per hour – the pronghorn has few natural predators, though coyotes and golden eagles may prep on fawns. But by the late 1800s, hunting and overgrazing had reduced Utah’s pronghorn population to an estimated 700 individuals.

Reintroduced near Cannonville in the late 1960s, pronghorns soon migrated to the Paunsaugunt Plateau and have remained here ever since. The plateau’s open meadows and ponderosa pine forests provide ideal pronghorn habitat. Winter winds sweep snow from the meadows, so pronghorns can continue to browse sagebrush, grasses, and other plants.