American Airlines Flight 191 crashed on May 25, 1979, seconds after takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, killing all 258 passengers and 13 crew on board plus two people on the ground. The passenger list from the 1979 Chicago plane crash has been preserved through contemporaneous news accounts, the Chicago Tribune’s memorial database, and the Flight 191 Memorial Wall in Des Plaines, Illinois, where all 273 names are inscribed on individual bricks.1Chicago Tribune. Meet the Victims of American Airlines Flight 191 Biographical details remain incomplete for some victims, and 30 were never physically identified.
The Flight and the Toll
Flight 191 was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 bound for Los Angeles. It lifted off at approximately 3:04 p.m. on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. Thirty-one seconds after leaving the runway, the aircraft rolled left and struck the ground in an open field and trailer park near the airport.2Britannica. American Airlines Flight 191 Many of the passengers were headed to Los Angeles for the holiday weekend, and a sizable contingent was traveling to the American Booksellers Association convention.3Chicago Magazine. The Ghosts of Flight 191
Flight Deck Crew
Three crew members staffed the flight deck:
- Captain Walter Lux, 53, based in Chicago and living in Tempe, Arizona
- First Officer James Dillard, based in Harvard, Illinois
- Flight Engineer Alfred Udovich
Crew identifications were drawn from the Association of Professional Flight Attendants and contemporaneous news reports.4Washington Post. O’Hare Crash Victims Listed5APFA. Flight 191 Remembrance
Flight Attendants
Ten flight attendants worked the cabin:
- Linda K. Bundens, 31, Poway, California
- Paula M. Burns, 32, Chula Vista, California
- James T. DeHart, 28, San Diego
- Carmen L. Fowler, Carlsbad, California
- Linda M. Prince
- Mike Schassburger
- Sally Titterington
- Nancy T. Sullivan
- Carol Marie Ohm
- Katherine Ann Hiebert
Passengers A Through F
The list below is drawn from the Chicago Tribune’s memorial database and contemporaneous news accounts. Hometowns are included where known.6Chicago Tribune. Flight 191 Memorial7New York Times. A Partial Listing of Those Who Died in Jetliner Crash
- 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
Passengers G Through Z (Partial)
The names below from G onward are drawn from available records. The alphabetical list past F is not complete in the sources used; omissions do not reflect any choice about who to include.
- 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
Several of the dead were well-known figures in publishing and other fields. Sheldon Wax, 51, the managing editor of Playboy magazine since 1972, and his wife Judith Wax, 47, an author and essayist, were traveling to the American Booksellers Association convention. Judith’s memoir, Starting in the Middle, had just been published to critical and commercial success. A memorial service was held five days after the crash at the Arts Club of Chicago.3Chicago Magazine. The Ghosts of Flight 191 Her book contained the line: “When the job required travel, I developed such a fear of airplanes my head trembled from takeoff to landing.”8TIME. 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 CEO of Holmes-Hally Industries and Halco Spring and Manufacturing Co. George Hart, 61, was a vice president at TRW Systems.6Chicago 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.6Chicago Tribune. Flight 191 Memorial
At least nine passengers were book-industry professionals heading to the ABA convention. Gerald Campbell, Ella Stromme, and Martha Vickery were all wholesalers at Baker and Taylor Co. Francis Gemme was a vice president at Children’s Press. Carol Ferntheil was director of product development at Standard Publishing. Stephen Greene was a freelance publisher and former foreign correspondent. Elaine Howell was a bookstore manager from Charleston, West Virginia.1Chicago Tribune. Meet the Victims of American Airlines Flight 191
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 the 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.6Chicago Tribune. Flight 191 Memorial
Victims Never Physically Identified
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. Among the group were Stephen and Carolyn Sutton of Wilmette, who had been traveling with their sons Colin and Christopher.1Chicago Tribune. Meet the Victims of American Airlines Flight 191
Where to See the Full List
All 273 names are inscribed on individual bricks set into the curved stone wall of the Flight 191 Memorial, dedicated on October 15, 2011, at Lake Park in Des Plaines, less than two miles east of the crash site.9Des Plaines Park District. Flight 191 Memorial10CBS News Chicago. Flight 191 Memorial Dedicated Near O’Hare The memorial came together through 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, who secured $20,000 from American Airlines, and the Des Plaines Park District. More than 1,000 people attended the dedication.
Annual remembrance ceremonies continue. At the 45th anniversary on May 25, 2024, attendees observed 31 seconds of silence at 3:04 p.m., the moment of takeoff, facing Runway 32R at O’Hare. Retired Chicago firefighters rang a bell 31 times, and the names of all 273 victims were read aloud. Families and first responders remain connected through a Facebook group and continue to leave mementos and perform stone rubbings at the wall.11Shaw Local News. Families, Responders Gather on 45th Anniversary of Flight 191 Disaster12Journal and Topics. Preparations Set for 45th Anniversary Event Marking Airline Crash of Flight 191 Researchers looking for a specific name not listed above can consult the Chicago Tribune’s memorial database or visit the wall itself.