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US Air flight 1016 crashed into a neighbourhood just outside of Charlotte/Douglas International Airport on July 2, 1994. A missed approach occurred due to the weather and thunderstorms produced a microburst that pushed the aircraft into the ground. The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 had 52 passengers and five crew onboard. The captain and one flight attendant escaped with ith minor injuries whilst the first officer, two flight attendants, and 15 passengers received serious injuries. There were 37 fatalities. This is the experience of the flight attendants that fateful day. "As flight attendants, we always know that (an accident) could happen," said lead flight attendant Richard DeMary. "We're trained that it could happen. It is drilled into us that it could happen. It's a reality that it does happen." The crew had already flown two sectors and were on the third from Columbia, South Carolina, to Charlotte, North Carolina. The captain was Michael Greenlee and the first officer was James 'Phil' Hayes. Everything seemed perfectly normal. There were heavy thunderstorms around the airport, and they had been cleared to land. At 18:41, the aircraft encountered heavy rain on the final approach, and the captain instructed the first officer to perform a go-around. The DC-9 struggled in the severe weather conditions. Lead flight attendant Richard DeMary and flight attendant Shelley Markwith were seated on their jump seats next to the cockpit door, and flight attendant Karen Forcht was sitting at the rear, jump seat facing forwards. Just as the aircraft was coming in to land, the flight crew initiated a go-around due to the weather, but the flight attendants couldn't feel the aircraft climbing. That's when they knew something was seriously wrong. "We weren't going anywhere. We didn't feel like we were climbing. I remember the sinking sensation of falling and knowing we were in a go-around. When we started feeling that sinking feeling, I had taken my seat belt and given it just a little extra tug just to be sure that it was as tight as it could be." What happened next Richard and Shelley heard the aircraft's ground warning proximity system and the words "Terrain, Terrain." Everything happened so fast that the flight attendants were in disbelief. The first impact was on the ground, and there was the sound of scraping metal. They could hear the trees breaking as the aircraft hit them with violent force. The second impact was when the aircraft finally hit a tree, peeling away one side of the aircraft. It was now in three sections. The nose was on the road, the center cabin was wrapped around a tree and the tail struck a building. "It happened so fast. Initially, it was disbelief and then just the terrifying feeling that we're crashing." The aftermath Richard was aware he was covered in jet fuel and of the rain, wind, and noise that surrounded him. Richard and Shelley started to shout their commands, "Release seat belt and get out." As Richard unfastened his seat belt, he knew that there was debris around him. He tried to open the emergency exit door, but it was jammed. He then realized that he was outside in the open air and the cabin was no longer there. He saw the captain crawl out of the cockpit and helped the first officer out, who had a broken leg and head injuries. Shelley had shattered her knee, had a deep wound in her thigh, and burns. She could not get out of her seat. Richard helped her unfasten her seat belt and pulled her outside the aircraft. "I was confident that she was safe at that point. But after helping Shelley and feeling so disoriented - you can't train for every possible scenario - I had no airplane. There was just nothing there." Fire and smoke There was fire around the aircraft and small explosions followed. Richard had found the tail of the aircraft, but could see no one inside, and continued to shout commands. A woman with a baby came out of the wreckage, followed by another woman who had an infant on her lap. The infant died on impact, but she could not find him. Richard had burned his arms on the scorched aircraft but took the survivors to nearby houses with the help of a few local people. He returned to the aircraft again, but there was no one there. Karen, who had been seated at the rear of the aircraft, had lost her shoes in the impact and received severe burns to her face, hands, arms, and legs. She helped three passengers out of the wreckage. Her exit door could not be used; there was also fire and lots of debris, so she led them through a gap in the fuselage. "I was concerned that I would succumb to the smoke or you know, the fire or something like that." On the groundRichard went to the house that had been hit by the aircraft and looked for survivors. He found a man trapped under debris in the garage who was struggling to breathe. He was a passenger who had been thrown from the aircraft, and Richard tried to keep him calm. He then saw the captain and they decided to break into the house, seeing if anyone was inside. The residents of the house were luckily away that day. They then removed fallen telephone poles that blocked the rescue services' access to the accident site. Karen and Richard tried to return the aircraft but were turned away from the area by the rescue team. The flight attendants and flight crew comforted the survivors and helped with first aid, until the flight crew and Shelley went to the hospital. Richard stayed at the accident site for 45 minutes. Karen kept refusing medical attention, insisting that there were people more injured than she was. Richard and Karen stayed together, but due to her burns, she was taken to a different hospital than Shelley and the flight crew. Richard stayed with Karen as she didn't want to be left alone. No one on the ground was injured. Richard suffered burns and nerve damage to his foot, but was released from the hospital later that night but he elected to stay at the hospital. He called his mom and Karen's mom to explain what had happened. He describes that night as "... A very long night, that first night. It was very long." "I think as crew members, we carry a certain amount of burden to care for our passengers. And I think all crew members from our flight did, we took that upon ourselves to carry the weight until fire and rescue arrived. Based on my training, I did what I had to do. I did the job that I could do to help others survive and I can't imagine doing anything differently. After the accident, I can't imagine having any other training that could have prepared me better." "I think that sometimes the passengers don't realize that in-flight service is really irrelevant. It's a nice added touch. It's something that adds to the flight, but as far as the safety of the flight, it's unimportant." Quotes: From an interview with Richard DeMary by Flight Safety Foundation.