Kelly Duncan
Encyclopedia
Kelly Duncan-Moore was the youngest flight attendant
on Air Florida Flight 90
, which crashed minutes after takeoff during severe cold weather conditions from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (then Washington National Airport) on January 13, 1982. The doomed plane failed to gain altitude, crashed into the 14th Street Bridge, and then plunged through a thick layer of ice into the Potomac River
, killing 78 people, including 4 people in cars on the bridge.
Duncan, 22 years old, was seated in a rear jump seat and was wearing a seat belt
as required by procedures during the takeoff. Only she and five passengers did not sustain fatal injuries during the initial and secondary impacts. Afterward, only the broken-off tail section of B-737 aircraft remained afloat. Finding herself alive in the cold water, Duncan assisted the other survivors as they clung to a small part of the tail section in the ice-choked river. She inflated the only flotation device they could find and passed it to one of the more injured passengers. A single rescue helicopter of the U.S. Park Police arrived about 20 minutes later and, with assistance from bystanders, rescued all but one (Arland D. Williams, Jr.) of the six persons in the water.
In the NTSB final report the NTSB recognized Duncan, stating:
After recovering from her injuries, Duncan returned to flying for less than two years before beginning church work ministering to children. She received a degree in early childhood education and became a teacher. In 2005, married and with three teenaged children, she told an interviewer from CNN that "living through that horrific crash changed her life and her priorities":
Flight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
on Air Florida Flight 90
Air Florida Flight 90
Air Florida Flight 90 was a scheduled U.S. domestic passenger flight from Washington National Airport in Arlington County, Virginia, to Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a stopover at Tampa International Airport in Tampa, Florida...
, which crashed minutes after takeoff during severe cold weather conditions from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (then Washington National Airport) on January 13, 1982. The doomed plane failed to gain altitude, crashed into the 14th Street Bridge, and then plunged through a thick layer of ice into the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
, killing 78 people, including 4 people in cars on the bridge.
Duncan, 22 years old, was seated in a rear jump seat and was wearing a seat belt
Seat belt
A seat belt or seatbelt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop...
as required by procedures during the takeoff. Only she and five passengers did not sustain fatal injuries during the initial and secondary impacts. Afterward, only the broken-off tail section of B-737 aircraft remained afloat. Finding herself alive in the cold water, Duncan assisted the other survivors as they clung to a small part of the tail section in the ice-choked river. She inflated the only flotation device they could find and passed it to one of the more injured passengers. A single rescue helicopter of the U.S. Park Police arrived about 20 minutes later and, with assistance from bystanders, rescued all but one (Arland D. Williams, Jr.) of the six persons in the water.
In the NTSB final report the NTSB recognized Duncan, stating:
After recovering from her injuries, Duncan returned to flying for less than two years before beginning church work ministering to children. She received a degree in early childhood education and became a teacher. In 2005, married and with three teenaged children, she told an interviewer from CNN that "living through that horrific crash changed her life and her priorities":