Factors Contributing To Survival
Of the 296 people aboard, 111 were killed in the crash, while 185 survived. Captain Haynes later told of three contributing factors regarding the time of day that allowed for a better chance of survival:
- The accident occurred during daylight hours;
- The accident occurred as a shift change was occurring at both a regional trauma center and a regional burn center in Sioux City, allowing for more medical personnel to treat the injured; and
- The accident occurred when the Iowa Air National Guard was on duty at Sioux Gateway Airport, allowing for 285 trained personnel to assist with triage and evacuation of the injured.
"Had any of those things not been there," Haynes said, "I'm sure the fatality rate would have been a lot higher."
As with the Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crash of a similarly-sized Lockheed L-1011 in 1972, the relatively shallow angle of descent likely played a large part in the relatively high survival rate. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that under the circumstances, "a safe landing was virtually impossible."
Read more about this topic: United Airlines Flight 232
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