1979 Chicago Plane Crash Passenger List: Crew and Ground Victims

American Airlines Flight 191, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 bound for Los Angeles, crashed seconds after takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on May 25, 1979, killing all 258 passengers and 13 crew members on board along with two people on the ground. The passenger list for the 1979 Chicago plane crash has been reconstructed from American Airlines records, contemporaneous reporting by the Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, and the Flight 191 Memorial Wall in Des Plaines, Illinois, where each of the 273 victims is named on an individual brick.1Chicago Tribune. Meet the Victims of American Airlines Flight 1912Britannica. American Airlines Flight 191 Biographical detail is fuller for some victims than others, and 30 people were never physically identified.

The Flight Crew

Three pilots worked the flight deck. Captain Walter Lux, 53, was based in Chicago and living in Tempe, Arizona. First Officer James Dillard was based in Harvard, Illinois. Alfred Udovich served as flight engineer.3Washington Post. O’Hare Crash Victims Listed4APFA. Flight 191 Remembrance

The Cabin Crew

Ten flight attendants staffed the cabin. Their names, compiled from the Association of Professional Flight Attendants and contemporaneous news reports:

  • Linda K. Bundens, 31, Poway, California
  • Paula M. Burns, 32, Chula Vista, California
  • James T. DeHart, 28, San Diego
  • Carmen L. Fowler, Carlsbad, California
  • Katherine Ann Hiebert
  • Carol Marie Ohm
  • Linda M. Prince
  • Mike Schassburger
  • Nancy T. Sullivan
  • Sally Titterington

Sources for the cabin crew list include the APFA remembrance page and The New York Times‘s partial listing published the day after the crash.4APFA. Flight 191 Remembrance5New York Times. A Partial Listing of Those Who Died in Jetliner Crash

The Passengers

The 258 passengers came from across the United States and several other countries. Many were traveling to Los Angeles for the long Memorial Day weekend, and a significant number were publishing professionals heading to the American Booksellers Association convention.6Chicago Magazine. The Ghosts of Flight 191 The names below are drawn from the Chicago Tribune memorial database and contemporaneous accounts; the list is partial, and hometowns are included where known.

Passenger Names, A Through F

  • James W. Adams III, Tarzana, California
  • Jeffrey Norman Adams, Cerritos, California
  • Richard Kellog Adams
  • Kathleen Adduci, Homewood, Illinois
  • Robert Ernest Aeschbacher, Hampton Beach, New Hampshire
  • Abdullah, Mona, Basil (age 8), and Ahamad (age 3) Al-Swailem, Virginia Beach, Virginia
  • Jessica A. Altman, Woodland, California
  • Colleen Anderson
  • Gary Ang
  • Edward Armenta
  • Ruth C. Armstrong, Hawthorne, California
  • Robert “Bob” Artz, Simi Valley, California
  • Sherry Atkinson, San Gabriel, California
  • Ruth Baldini, Lawndale, California
  • George Barich, Los Angeles
  • Robert Edward Baum, Los Angeles
  • Jeanette Bean, Honolulu
  • Charles Becker, Manhattan Beach, California
  • Carroll D. Begley, Irvine, California
  • Judith Bennett, Chicago
  • Itzhak Bentov, Wayland, Massachusetts
  • Jeff J. Bett Jr., England
  • Stephen Blake, North Hollywood, California
  • Paul A. Blovin Sr.
  • Jim Bollinger
  • Bill and Corrinne Borchers, Chicago
  • Edmund A. Bower, Tustin, California
  • Reginald N. Braine, Los Angeles
  • Oran Bridges, La Habra, California
  • Allen E. Bryson, Arcadia, California
  • Eugene Bugajski, Arcadia, California
  • Terrence G. Cady
  • Gerald Campbell, Momence, Illinois
  • Bob Cannon, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
  • Carol Carlson
  • Dana Lynn Castronovo, Utica, New York
  • Sheila C. Charisse, Beverly Hills, California
  • Charles Cheng, Southern California
  • Ping Chun, Chicago
  • Stephen Wood Clark
  • Ira S. Cohen, Chicago
  • Sara W. Collins, Tonawanda, New York
  • Dennis T. Connell, South Bend, Indiana
  • John L. Conner
  • Bruce D. Corrigan, Long Beach, California
  • Anthony J. Costello, Torrance, California
  • David J. Coughlin, Redondo Beach, California
  • Francis Lee Coulter Jr., Los Angeles
  • Sedonna O. Crawford, South Charleston, Pennsylvania
  • James Crossley, Westminster, California
  • Mario and Elena Crucioli, Chelsea, Massachusetts
  • Edwin David, Chico, California
  • Marilyn H. Davis
  • Patricia C. Davis, Leicester, North Carolina
  • Joseph DeBerry, Portland, Connecticut
  • John Deverrier, Glendale, California
  • Rhonda DeYoung, Homewood, Illinois
  • Gail Susan Dhariwal, East Lansing, Michigan
  • Gail S. DiCastro, Chicago Heights, Illinois
  • Don Dick, Westlake Village, California
  • Patrick A. Dicredico, Westminster, California
  • Robert J. Dimiceli, Westminster, California
  • Darlene DiPietro, Park Ridge, Illinois
  • Wilbur Dittmer
  • Lloyd Dixon
  • Jack Donahue
  • Donald Driscoll, Kailua, Hawaii
  • James W. Dudley, Northridge, California
  • Kathleen M. Dzwonkowski, Utica, New York
  • Frederick G. Eaton, Cobleskill, New York
  • Amy Eisenberg, Venice, California
  • Edwards Eugene Elliott, Garden Grove, California
  • Carl Entener, Milwaukee
  • Terry Ernest, Anaheim Hills, California
  • Roy and Marian Eshenaur, Point Pleasant, Pennsylvania
  • Susan Falcone
  • Carol Ferntheil, Cincinnati
  • William “Billy” T. Files, Diamond Bar, California
  • Larry M. Fink, Glencoe, Illinois
  • Robert A. Fish
  • Sharon Fitzgerald
  • Richard J. Forstrom, Granada Hills, California
  • Walter L. Frasier, Huntington Beach, California
  • Joan Green Fuselier, Los Angeles

Passenger Names, G Onward

The remainder of the alphabetical list was not completely captured in the sources consulted. Names available from G onward include the following:7Chicago Tribune. Flight 191 Memorial

  • Kathleen Gallagher
  • Robert M. Gardner, San Diego
  • Francis R. Gemme, Winnetka, Illinois
  • Clem Glass, La Canada, California
  • Craig Goetz, Buena Park, California
  • Mark Goldsmith, Chatsworth, California
  • Joseph L. Gonzalez Sr.
  • Lloyd E. Gray
  • Alan and Judi Green, Rochester, New York
  • Mike Green
  • Stephen Greene, West Dover, Vermont
  • F. Eugene Greenroyd
  • Kenneth Greger, San Dimas, California
  • Raymond L. Griego, Hacienda Heights, California
  • William F. Guthrie, Topanga, California
  • Victoria Chen Haider, Evanston, Illinois
  • Paul Halopoff, Los Angeles
  • Mattie Hammond
  • Robert Hampel, Lafayette, California
  • Jong Bin Han, Chicago
  • Charles T. Harlin, Anaheim, California
  • Anna Harrison, Desert Shores, California
  • George Hart, Los Angeles
  • Nigel Hawkins, Los Angeles
  • Elaine Howell, Charleston, West Virginia
  • John “Jack” G. Moncrieff, Sacramento, California
  • Eileen Plesa
  • Paul, Zaida, Marjorie, and Zaida Louise Schade, Naperville, Illinois
  • Ella Stromme
  • Stephen, Carolyn, Colin, and Christopher Sutton, Wilmette, Illinois
  • Narda Vetor, Clinton Township, Michigan
  • Martha Vickery
  • Judith Wax, Chicago
  • Sheldon Wax, Chicago

Notable Passengers

Sheldon Wax, 51, the managing editor of Playboy magazine since 1972, and his wife Judith Wax, 47, an author and essayist, were flying to the American Booksellers Association convention in Los Angeles. Judith’s memoir, Starting in the Middle, had just been published to critical and commercial success and contained the line, “When the job required travel, I developed such a fear of airplanes my head trembled from takeoff to landing.” A memorial service for the couple was held five days after the crash at the Arts Club of Chicago.6Chicago Magazine. The Ghosts of Flight 1918TIME. Nation: The Worst U.S. Air Crash

Victoria Chen Haider, 34, of Evanston, was the fiction editor at Playboy. Paul Halopoff of Los Angeles was the chief executive of Holmes-Hally Industries and Halco Spring and Manufacturing Co. George Hart, 61, was a vice president at TRW Systems.7Chicago Tribune. Flight 191 Memorial

Itzhak Bentov, 55, a Czechoslovakia-born scientist and inventor, was traveling to California to present research on science and consciousness to a group of Japanese scientists. He had been hired by major Boston hospitals to develop medical diagnostic equipment and was the author of Stalking the Wild Pendulum: The Mechanics of Consciousness.7Chicago Tribune. Flight 191 Memorial

At least nine passengers were book-industry professionals heading to the ABA convention, among them Gerald Campbell, Ella Stromme, and Martha Vickery, all wholesalers at Baker and Taylor Co.; Francis Gemme, a vice president at Children’s Press; Carol Ferntheil, director of product development at Standard Publishing; Stephen Greene, a freelance publisher and former foreign correspondent; and Elaine Howell, a bookstore manager from Charleston, West Virginia.7Chicago Tribune. Flight 191 Memorial1Chicago Tribune. Meet the Victims of American Airlines Flight 191

The Two Victims on the Ground

Two people outside the aircraft were killed when flaming fuel and debris struck the ground. John W. Craig, 42, was a truck driver who had worked for about a month at Courtney-Velo Excavating Co. in Des Plaines, just north of O’Hare. His body was found in the cab of his truck after it caught fire. Andrew D. Green, 50, a resident of Park Ridge, was found inside a car at an auto shop in Elk Grove Township after his daughter reported him missing.7Chicago Tribune. Flight 191 Memorial

The Thirty Unidentified Victims

Thirty of the 273 victims were never physically identified by medical investigators. Their names were determined through a process of elimination. The unidentified remains were buried side by side at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Stephen and Carolyn Sutton of Wilmette, who had been traveling with their sons Colin and Christopher, were among those in the group.1Chicago Tribune. Meet the Victims of American Airlines Flight 191

Where to Find the Complete List

All 273 names appear on individually inscribed bricks set into a curved stone wall at the Flight 191 Memorial Wall and Garden in Lake Park, Des Plaines, less than two miles east of the crash site. The memorial was dedicated on October 15, 2011, after an effort begun in 2010 by Kim Jockl and a class of sixth graders at Decatur Classical School in Chicago, working with State Senator Dan Kotowski, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, and the Des Plaines Park District. More than 1,000 people attended the dedication.9Des Plaines Park District. Flight 191 Memorial10CBS News Chicago. Flight 191 Memorial Dedicated Near O’Hare

Annual remembrance ceremonies are held at the site. At the 45th anniversary gathering on May 25, 2024, attendees observed 31 seconds of silence at 3:04 p.m., the moment of takeoff, while facing Runway 32R at O’Hare. Retired Chicago firefighters rang a bell 31 times, and the names of all 273 victims were read aloud.11Shaw Local News. Families, Responders Gather on 45th Anniversary of Flight 191 Disaster The Chicago Tribune maintains an online memorial page with biographical entries for many of the dead.7Chicago Tribune. Flight 191 Memorial