Crash Survivors Donate To Save Capt. Al Haynes's Daughter

Some of the survivors of United Airlines Flight 232 have found a way to repay a pilot who helped save their lives 15 years ago. They are pitching in for his daughter's bone-marrow transplant. Al Haynes' plea for his daughter, Laurie Arguello, helped her raise the $256,000 needed for the procedure. Haynes is known for a heroic crash landing in July 19, 1989, when the United Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10 he was piloting encountered sever system failures after an engine fan blade disintegrated. The crew used throttles on the two remaining engines to make an emergency landing in Sioux City. Of the 296 persons aboard, 184 survived.

Contributions poured in after Haynes sent a letter last year to friends saying that his 39-year-old daughter was trying to raise money for the surgery and subsequent care. Word also spread through national and local media coverage.

“I read a letter from someone whose friend didn't survive Flight 232,” Arguello told The Seattle Times. “They made a donation in that person's name, which made me cry.”

Arguello was diagnosed in December 2001 with aplastic anemia, a condition in which her bone marrow cannot produce enough blood cells. Survivors said they wanted to help not because of what Haynes and his crew did more than a decade ago, but because of the support he has provided since. Arguello has two potential bone-marrow donors lined up. A transplant could take place this spring. She is continuing to raise money in case complications raise the cost of her treatment.

“He has always had time for anyone connected with the crash,” said Jerry Schemmel, a survivor who is a radio announcer for the NBA's Denver Nuggets. “I've become more impressed with the man that he has become since the crash than the man he was in the cockpit that day.”

FMI: www.transplants.org