Pilot who made heroic crash-landing now tries to save daughter

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ^

[RckyRaCoCo]

SEATAC, Wash. -- More than a decade ago, Capt. Al Haynes saved 185 lives when he crash-landed a DC-10 in Sioux City, Iowa, after its center engine exploded. Now he's trying to save one more.

His daughter, Laurie Haynes Arguello, has aplastic anemia, a condition in which her bone marrow cannot produce enough white or red blood cells. She needs a marrow transplant, and although she has a donor lined up, she doesn't have the $156,000 that her insurance will not pay.

So she and her dad, accompanied by 25 of their friends, have started raising money. In two weeks they have raised more than $30,000, much of it from Haynes' associates in the Airline Pilots Association and the Association of Flight Attendants.

"My wife died in 1999, my oldest son was killed in a motorcycle crash (in 1997), and now this is coming up with my daughter," he said. "So we're having our share of bad luck; but we learned a long time ago that it doesn't do you any good to cry about it. You just do what you can and deal with what you have."

Haynes was the pilot of United Airlines Flight 232 when its engine burst on July 19, 1989. Haynes had almost no control, but he and others in the cockpit managed to divert the plane to Sioux City and crash-land it using only its throttles. Of the 292 people on board, 185 survived.

Arguello, 39, was diagnosed with the disorder in December 2001. A form of chemotherapy called ATG, for antithymocyte globulin, reduced her symptoms for nine months, leading to some hope the condition had been cured.

It hadn't, which meant a transplant was her only option. She went through another session of ATG anyway. "We hoped it would hold me out until we could collect the deposit," said Arguello, who has a 9-year-old son. By "deposit," she means the $256,000 in all the operation would cost. Her insurance, through Washington state, covers $100,000.

And even after that, follow-up visits and anti-rejection drugs will likely cost at least another $100,000. For that reason, Haynes and Arguello are trying to raise $250,000.

--- Editors: To make a donation, go to www.friendsforlauri.com or write to the National Foundation for Transplants in behalf of Laurie Arguello: NFT for Laurie Arguello P.O. Box 7781 Covington, WA 98042 Information from: Eastside Journal

[RckyRaCoCo]

Many might have seen this on the news channels lately. Not sure if it has been posted here yet though.

[ken5050]

Seems to me that the 185 souls saved might, just might, wanna kick in a grand each..BTW, thatwas one of the most incredible exploits of aviation....the plane was literally uncontrollable...the fact that he even managed to get it down on the runway was a miracle...

[Professional Engineer]

ping

[Francis McClobber]

I met Capt. Hayes several years ago at a squadron safety standdown. Very powerful personality. I'll be donating to his daughter's fund.

[isthisnickcool]

She needs a marrow transplant, and although she has a donor lined up......

This in itself is great news! Many many people die because they can't get a match. It's especially horrible to watch a child die earlier than they might have or not be "cured" because they could not be matched to a donor for a marrow transplant.

One thing anyone can do is to become a marrow donor. You might save a life!

[MEG33]

It was indeed a miracle.God bless him,he's been given a lot to bear.

[ken5050]

Yup...f'sure..

[SoCal Pubbie]

Why won't the insurance pay? If it's life threatening, shouldn't it be covered?

[ken5050]

What was also fascinating was that he was scheduled to retire after that flight..it was supposed to be his last....he refused to go out that way..after a long and arduous recovery, he was re-certified as a command pilot, and he flew one more UAL flight, then retired....I think also that several of the surviving crew flew with him that one last time....the survivors were also fortunated that the crash occured at Sioux City...seems they had just conducted an extensive emergency crash drill, and were exceptionally well prepared for all the injured...

[ken5050]

Many insurance policies have limits...it's the only way to keep costs down for the other 99.99% of us..

[FireTrack]

Sent mine in online. Nothing it it...

https://secure.gomedialink.com/nft/FMPro?-db=NFT_Patients_&-lay=CGI&-format=DonationFormArguello.htm&-view

[First_Salute]

Made donation; and thank you.

[cubreporter]

What a powerful tag line. I will remember it.

[RckyRaCoCo]

Capt. Haynes recounts United Flight 232.

[cubreporter]

May I share that tag line with others?

[Sir Charles]

Just learned Sunday that my niece, on Christmas day, had a lung transplant, a ten hour operation. She suffers from cystic fibrosis. Done at Stanford and covered entirely by state of Calif. Have made a contribution in her honor for Laurie.

The system at the transplant foundation for named recipients seemed to work well.

[ken5050]

Thanks for the link...fascinating read....another factoid you might find of interest....during the search of the countryside below the flight path of the plane, they found most of the parts that fell off, except the one piece of the turbine that showed the actual metal fault that led to the engine disintegration....it was found some months later by a farmer walking his corn field...and provided actual, hard proof of the metal fatigue.....

[A.A. Cunningham]

[BlessedBeGod]

Donation made. Prayers for Laurie and her family. BTTT!