Delta Flight 191

      In August of 1985 I was working foot patrol for the Fort Worth Police Department. We were attached to the S.W.A.T. team. There were no cell phones, and they were just starting to give out pagers. My partner and I hadn’t gotten one yet.

      We got off work and went home. I arrived at home, still in uniform, and my wife said, “Change your clothes, we need to go to the hospital to see Debbie. She had her baby a while ago so hurry.” Debbie was my wife’s best friend growing up.

      It was late afternoon. I changed clothes and we headed towards the hospital in the middle of the DFW metroplex. It’s in a suburb called Bedford, at Harris hospital. My wife and I got on the freeway to the hospital. The freeway we were on went to DFW airport and all the way to Dallas. There was a severe thunderstorm that moved through the area earlier but dissipated quickly.  

      As we approached the exit for the hospital two Fort Worth Police cars passed us with lights and sirens going. I figured there was a big accident out towards the airport. Fort Worth annexed an area near DFW airport when it was built to have political clout for the joint Dallas/Fort Worth venture. There was a highway before you exited onto airport property that was in the city limits of Fort Worth. Major accidents happened there all the time. I didn’t think anything about it. Then three Fort Worth Police cars raced past us with lights and sirens. I looked at my wife and said, “Okay, something big is happening out on the highway. I still couldn’t imagine what was going on.

       We went into the hospital to visit our friends and see their new baby. We walked up to the desk and asked what room Debbie Jason was in. The nurse looked and said, “She’s in room 191.”

      I thanked her and we went down the hall. We found room number 191. We knocked and went in.  Debbie was there with the beautiful newborn girl and her husband James. We all hugged and fawned over the baby. We talked and hung out for a while.

       There was a TV in the room, but the sound was turned down. I watched for a few minutes and saw a news story. A big airliner, an L-1011, had crashed at DFW airport. The police cars I saw must have been heading towards the accident. All police departments in the DFW area have mutual aid agreements. When something big happens in your area you can call for help.

      I turned up the TV to hear what was happening. The news said the plane crashed just short of the north end of the runway because of the storm which came through earlier. There was a microburst of wind shear from the clouds forcing the plane into the ground. It hit a car on Highway 114 killing the driver just short of airport property. It then bounced and flew into a water tank. The plane caught on fire and many people died. When the plane split the rain was pouring and saved people’s lives from the fire.

      We continued to talk and hold the baby. The sound was still up on the TV. I heard the flight was out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida headed to Hollywood, California with a stop at DFW airport. The flight was Delta number 191.

      I looked at my wife, “We’re in room 191. Debbie has the same room number as the plane that went down. It’s like we’re in a Twilight Zone episode.”

      She looked at me. She was practical and said, “Oh stop it. It’s just a coincidence.”

      I didn’t drop it. We told Debbie and James about it, and they were shocked. We talked a while longer and I left with my wife. On the way home I was consumed by the whole 191 thing.

      We got home and there were messages on my answering machine from the police department wanting me to come in and go to the airport. I called the department, and they said never mind. They had things under control. I found out the next day S.W.A.T., which included foot patrol, was called in and had to dig bodies out of the downed plane. My friends who went out there couldn’t talk about it. Several close friends told me things I can’t write here. I’m just glad I missed that party.

      In the years following this catastrophic accident we still refer to that girl as the 191 baby. She is now a grown up beautiful woman with a fantastic family. I, however, still refer to her as the 191 baby. As a matter of fact, the reason this story came back to me is because the other day her mother posted a picture of a great looking family. Debbie had several other children, so I wasn’t sure and asked her, is that was the 191 baby. She answered back yes. She will always be the 191 baby to me. I’m glad everything turned out great for her and her family.