This blog is an archive of photographs and articles which the author has kept over the years regarding to the crash of Turkish Airlines DC-10, “Ankara” on Sunday, March 3rd, 1974. It finally brings closure to a subject as fascinating in its circumstances.
The website is a place for visitors to comment or submit information about the accident. The blog is not aimed to rehash what is already known about the Turkish crash, but it is a place for historic remembrance to the victims and families who are still affected today by the tragic event.
For the passengers and crew of flight 981, registration TC-JAV, their lives were not given in vain as unsettling as they were taken. Their sacrifice, since then has made air travel much safer for millions of passengers.
To remember and understand, the conditions of the accident. This site will provide a forum and an exchange in preparation for the organization of an Association of Families of Victims of Flight THY-981 (leave a message or comment, and we will contact you).
It should be noted that a transcript of the official French report can be viewed under Rapport 1 to 5. For English readers the official English report has been upload. The report gives you a detailed account not documented with any other articles regarding the crash.
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Ce blog est une archive de photos et d’articles soigneusement collectés et relatifs à la catastrophe aérienne du 3 mars 1974 (le DC-10 n°29, baptisé “Ankara”).
Ce site est un lieu ouvert aux visiteurs pour consulter, commenter et/ou fournir des informations sur ce dramatique accident. L’objectif de ce site ne vise pas à réécrire l’histoire sur ce drame, mais il est un lieu de mémoire, dédié aux victimes et aux familles qui sont toujours, aujourd’hui encore, directement touchés par ce tragique événement.
Pour les passagers et membres d’équipage du vol THY981, immatriculé TC-JAV, leurs vies n’ont pas été donnés en vain. De cette tragédie, le transport aérien est devenu plus sûr pour des millions de passagers.
Nous souhaitons également que ce site, et son blog, permettent aux familles touchées par ce drame de garder, ou de nouer, un contact entre elles.
Pour savoir et se souvenir, ensemble, ce site pourra servir de lieu d’échange pour l’animation de l’Association des Familles des Victimes du Vol THY-981 (laisser un message ou un commentaire, nous vous contacterons).
Rapport Final: De la Commission d’ Enquête sur l’accident de l’avion DC-10 TC-JAV des Turkish Airlines
Bruno Druesne All Rights Reserved
30 comments
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February 16, 2008 at 7:30 pm
antony
Was following this accident for years and was wondering if any of the pilots immediate family are still alive and can give their accounts
March 7, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Rob
Fantastic effort. This tragic incident has been a respectful fascination for me for many years and I’m pleased to see it recognised here.
For your information, there is a new documentary on the crash called ‘Behind Close Doors’ here airing on Mar 10th 2008.
http://natgeochannel.co.uk/photos/?id_m=142
Also, here is a YouTube link to a documentary on the crash from the UK made in 1996. It shows the memorial and has contributions from people involved, and is very moving.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0N5l1-IcQE
Once again, thank you.
March 8, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Richard Bolai
Dear Rob,
Thank you for your remarks and to the link to the documentary. I do suspect the episode to be aired on National Geographic may favor towards sensationalism. No dramatized scenario can reflect on the shear panic the crew and passengers of TC-JAC experienced. They lost their very lives.
March 9, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Rob
Thank you Richard
I would add I have no connection with either link and have the greatest respect to your judgement and, of course, to the memories of those who perished.
May I also suggest for your reference section a book with an excellent and comprehensive account of the incidents cause, effect and ramifications to air travel. ‘Air Disaster Vol 1′ by Macarthur Job. ISBN: 1875671110.
June 3, 2008 at 10:10 am
Stephen
Is there a passenger list of the victims? I know that the Bury St. Edmunds Amateur Rugby Club Team were on board; also, some models and I think, a group of pensioners on a trip. I was 8 when this happened. I can remember the ITN evening news report, even to the presenter and the whole sombre atmosphere that evening and beyond. There was a documentary made not long afterwards, which went out on ITV (in England) and had contributions from (distraught) relatives. Very emotional and haunting. I could never, ever see a DC10 again without thinking of the Parish crash – and I still can’t.
June 4, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Richard Bolai
The passenger list is been prepared. There is a quote from the Bury St. Edmunds Amateur Rugby Club Team
The Club went from strength to strength until tragedy struck with the loss of 18 members of the Club in a plane crash. They lost their lives on a Club trip to Paris. Understandably it took the Bury St. Edmunds R.F.C. and the Town many years to recover.
December 10, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Didier
Désolé, mais je ne suis pas doué en langue Anglaise.
Merci aux créateurs de ce site qui sans jamais être gratuitement morbide malgrés les documents violents, retrace en détails les instants de cette catastrophe. Je travaillais à cette époque à Orly et ce terrible drame m’a douloureusement choqué.
A toutes fins utiles, il existe un livre très sérieux sur la catastrophe d’Ermenonville dont voici les indications :
Titres : Les 9 dernières minutes
Auteur : Moira Johnston (écrit en 1976)
Editeur : Belfond (Paris) 1977 version française
Format : 15×24 – 251 pages
Ce livre ne se trouve sans doute plus que d’occasion. Je l’ai moi même acheté d’occasion il y a une vingtaine d’année.
Il retrace en détail, le dernier jour et instant du vol 981, puis toute la suite juridique qui en découla.
Autre renseignement : Les victimes de ce drame reposent au cimetière parisien de Thiais près d’Orly ( banlieue sud de Paris).
January 7, 2009 at 1:48 am
Brian Robinson
Hi, my Godfather Tony Price age 39 was a passenger on THY981.
I was only 13 in 1974 and I still think about him very often, Tony did’nt have any Children of his own so he treated my Sister & myself as if we were his own Children.
He was my Fathers closest friend & was asked to be our Godfather because of his close friendship to our Family.
He was a very kind & thoughtful Man who took the role of being our Godfather very seriously.
Because Tony never Married or had his own Children I don’t think anyone else living remembers him now. But I do and I’ll never forget him, he was and still is my Godfather.
Thankyou for giving me this opportunity to leave my thoughts and respect here for him.
Brian.
January 7, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Richard Bolai
Dear Brian, thank you on your comment over your godfather, this is a place of healing to which many people are still affected, I would really like to introduce a page where one can submit a photograph detailing a note about their lives. This will give them the respect from their untimely and sudden passing. You can contact Bruno Druesne as he has formed an Association of Families of the Victims of the tragedy
bdruesne@wanadoo.fr
Thank you,
Richard Bolai
February 5, 2009 at 3:28 am
Harry Tam III
I was in grade 9 when this regrettable accident occurred. I recall reading about it in the paper. I regret for all the precious people who lost their lives, but for some reason I grieve especially for the college students and those younger. To this day, I remain heartbroken for the horror that everyone on board experienced as the tragedy unfolded. Words fail me. I hope to meet as many of these dear people as possible when the Lord calls.
February 18, 2009 at 4:14 am
Denise Bennett
I was in Sinop, Turkey (my husband was in the US Army at the time)when Flight 981 crashed. We were at our landlord’s house listening to the radio, when our landlord’s daughter got excited and told us about the crash. At first they reported it to be sabotage.
Days later the daughter had a magazine she bought abput the crash with lots of photos. One headline said “Bloody Forrest”, above a photo.
My husband had flown a THY DC-10 from Istanbul to Adana a couple months before. I always wondered if it had been the same plane.
I wish now I had bought copies of the magazine and newspapers on the crash, altho I couldn’t read them.
I would like to correspond with anyone who is interested in the crash, if anyone is interested.
It was such a horrendous tragedy, made more real by the fact we were in Turkey at the time.
February 18, 2009 at 4:15 am
Denise Bennett
I forgot to include my e-mail address in my letter above: dbennett5555@comcast.net
February 21, 2009 at 12:00 am
Richard Bolai
Dear Denise,
Turkish Airlines had acquired three DC-10 -10s, the likelihood that your husband flew on one of their fleets. There is a curiosity over this craft as I just came across a brochure showcasing this aircraft from 1973. It reads, Ce que c’est que voyager a bord de l’avion de plaisance DC-10 THY / What is it like to travel on board THY airplane of pleasure DC-10. Ominous in every respect because it shows inside TC-JAV. The orange upholstery is daunting
February 21, 2009 at 3:31 am
Harry Tam III
The front of the jacket of the book, DESTINATION DISASTER, features a color photo of a few of the seats that were hurled out of the TC-JAV on Mar 3 ‘74. These were some of the seats over the left rear cargo door that were sucked out. The bodies had been removed, but you can see the orange upholstery of the seats. It’s a haunting photo that is difficult to erase from the mind. The seats in the photo are still partially buried in the soft soil of the field they landed in. (I understand that the field had just been tilled, so the soil was somewhat soft and spongy, as opposed to being hard-packed). If I remember correctly, there was a small teddy bear lying near the seats, presumably from one of the children on the flight. That adds to the poignancy of this terrible tragedy. My sympathy to all who lost loved ones on flight 981, and I am heartbroken for everyone who was on the flight.
March 3, 2009 at 11:32 pm
mike arnstein
Thirty five years to the day I still remember with great love my girlfriend Kailan Wilcox, daughter of Wayne Wilcox (Cultural Attache to the American Embasssy in London) who died on that fateful day. All my love forever. Mike
March 4, 2009 at 12:24 am
Richard Bolai
Dear Mike,
Thank you for remembering on the anniversary of a terrible day where your friend and her family lost their lives. May her passing be a reminder of her sacrifice she so fought clearly to live.
March 16, 2009 at 9:58 am
IsarSteve
A friend of Mine Keith Madge, his partner Peter Walsh, as well as his mother Mrs Joyce Hope were on the flight.
I think I heard once that Mrs Hope was one of the six passengers who were expelled from the aircraft..
I’ve written something about Keith on my blog here:
http://www.isarsteve.de/?p=903
March 16, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Richard Bolai
Dear Steve,
Your words posted on the link above is a reminder about loved and of your fond memory to keep Keith Madge alive more evident every March 3rd. His life was taken without regard on a airplane that had no soul thus taking unwilling the lives whose death shall be remembered for eternity.- His passing was swift and harmless.
March 22, 2009 at 2:29 am
candace wilson culp
Hello,
By chance I put my old friends name onto google thinking maybe one day a photo would pop up and suddenly I am at your web site. My friend was Pamela Sheel. Her photo appeared in the London Times after the accident and I always wished I had a copy of the picture.
I don’t think I’ve ever gotten over the shock of her death, I didn’t know that she was on that airplane until many, many months later when a postcard I had sent her was received by her mother and she wrote to tell me the dreadful news…. She was a generous and loving young woman.
Candace Wilson Culp, USA
March 23, 2009 at 12:25 am
Richard Bolai
Dear Candace,
It is indeed my wish to have photographs and a short biography as part of this website. But it really boils down to the love and care which many readers like yourself express. Pamela Sheel’s death however came with great panic, she realized the end so faithfully, (God) knew why
March 26, 2009 at 11:29 am
Angela Walker
Dear Candace,
Pamela Sheel was my schoolfriend. I agree with everything you say about her; she was a really lovely person – warm, kind, and funny, and I too have never forgotten her.
I have the photo you mention from The Times, and would be happy to send you a copy.
Best wishes,
Angela.
March 26, 2009 at 3:03 pm
candace wilson culp
Dear Angela,
How kind you are…would you please email me as I don’t know how to contact you through this website (Richard Bofal just emailed me this morning to tell me of your response).
Really a copy of her photo would mean so much to me. Also I could tell you more about our brief friendship if you wish.
candace.culp@gmail.com
Thank you, candace
April 6, 2009 at 9:40 am
IsarSteve
I wrote above about Keith Madge and mentioned my blog:
http://www.isarsteve.de/?p=903
At the time I wrote that, I didn’t have a photographic record of Keith.
I now have been given a photograph and have now added it to my blog. For the first time in thirty-five years I can see his face.. and all the hurt of not being able to say a last goodbye to someone who meant much to me comes back..
June 5, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Richard Bolai
This person is willing to get in touch with a family.
“Bonjour,
Ce doit surement être à cause de l’actualité (airbus A330 Rio-Paris) que les souvenirs resurgissent. J’ai perdu ma copine Corinne LERENDU et ses parents dans l’accident du DC10, elle était ma voisine et nous étions proches de la famille. Je me rappelle que les jours précédents leur voyage, je n’avais pas voulu jouer avec elle, nous nous étions un peu chamaillées. Je la vois encore m’appeler et moi faire la sourde oreille. Elle touchait et jouait avec un bout de tuyau qu’elle a lancé dans le champs nous séparant…quand j’ai su plus tard cette catastrophe, j’ai récupéré ce morceau de tuyau, que j’ai reniflé, touché, gardé en espérant qu’il y avait encore dessus un peu d’elle…la famille…plus tard, nous avait rendu visite et nous avait donné tous les jouets, des vêtements….j’étais jeune mais je me suis toujours souvenu de cette petite fille. C’est un message pour sa famille (Corinne habitait à Andresy dans les Yvelines et moi en face de chez elle). Je ne l’ai jamais oubliée…
Nathalie FORT
July 2, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Peter Galloway
Our dear friend Pamela Sheels was a victim of this tragedy. She was 28 and a fashion model. She was on her way home from a photo shoot and since British Air was on strike, she hopped on Turkish Air 981. She was my sister’s room mate in London at the time.
She was a remarkable young lady, beautiful not on n body but in personality also. She had an effervescent demeanor and we were all instantly in love with her.
We still mss her.
September 19, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Nancy Galloway
Hey, bro,
How did you find this? I googled Pam’s name and there it was after all these years. Last year I visited the UK again and met up with two of her closest friends who are now close friends of mine – Alex Anderson and Sarah Rendell. We still remember and love Pam, a wonderful and kind girl and beautiful model to boot.
September 27, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Angela Walker
Dear Peter and Nancy,
Pam was a schoolfriend of mine, (see my earlier comment on 26th March). I would love to hear from any of her other friends, – yourselves or Alex or Sarah, – who might be interested in sharing memories of her. Let me know if so.
Best wishes,
Angela.
July 15, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Pam Sarsby
I remember Lloyd Lewis, who perished on Flight 981. He was a Sports Reporter for the News of the World returning from a Wales/France match.
His daughter Pat was my friend and I visited his home in Cardiff many times.
I’ve often thought about him, over the years, and would dearly love to meet up with Pat again as we lost touch with each other before her father died.
To all those who lost loved ones in this tragedy, my thoughts are with you.
July 18, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Richard Bolai
Two of my friends died in this crash, Bobby Hart and Clark Wilcox. Both just 12 years old. I have fond memories of playing baseball, going to movies and just being in some of the same classes together. Even after all this time, the recent plane crashes (Air France flight 447, etc) bring back the sad and happy memories of childhood to me. I hope investigators learn the causes of such crashes and that the airline industry will be proactive and correct any known problems.
Chris Schappel
Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, USA
July 18, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Richard Bolai
Dear Richard,
I just wanted to write and thank you for the memorial website. I am 39 years old, 40 this year, and I was 4 when my uncle was killed in this disaster – Robert William Wallis.
Your website has answered many of the questions I had in my mind of the event. As with all such things it is often the human element of such disasters that stay with you long after the event itself.
My uncle, who had that week qualified as an architect had taken a trip to Paris – a brief respite from his studies before continuing in his work newly qualified after seven years of study. I can remember my mother coming out into our garden on the sunday(?) telling my dad of the news of the crash that had just come on the television. My dad was was playing football with me and my younger brother at the time. My mother said ‘thank god we don’t know anybody due to travel today’. My uncle was not due to return until the Tuesday. It is that Tuesday that I will remember for the rest of my own life, even though I was just a small boy myself. On that Tuesday afternoon, my brother and I were scrapping on the stairs in our hallway and the phone rang. I can still see now so clearly my mum dropping the phone, screaming and running out of the front door. It had been her father telling my mum that her brother had been on the plane that had crashed. He had taken an earlier flight because of a BEA strike and he feared he wouldn’t get a plane back to London.
Thanks again for all your effort in piecing together lots of information and for such a comprehensive tribute to those who lost their lives.
Best wishes
James Sinclair