American journalist Claire? The original text of Savannah's classic news work "Glacier Hero"

Claire. Savannah

Florida Airlines Flight 90 is like a bird trapped in the ice and snow. Looking out of the window, I can vaguely see Washington National Airport. Occasionally, a cold wind clears away the dense snow, and passengers vaguely see the snow plow clearing the snow on the runway. Workers sprayed ethylene glycol anti-icing agent on the wings and engine room.

The scheduled departure time of the plane-65438+this year12 pm on October 3-has passed. The passengers are a little uneasy; A baby is crying. An hour later, several men were joking. "At least there should be a free glass of wine to drink," someone said. Laughing is far-fetched, but there is a man's heroic laughter-as if telling everyone that there will be no problem-a few people are more at ease.

Alan D. Williams Jr. often laughs. His mother said, "He loves life and always has a way to live happily." Williams is 46 years old, divorced, his head is getting bald, and his gray beard is neatly trimmed. On weekends, he plays with two children and sometimes goes camping in a van.

Williams is a senior auditor of a government bank. He often goes to banks in five or six states to check accounts in turn, so flying has become a habit. He always sits at the back of the plane. "The safest place on the plane," he said. He fastened his seat belt and buried himself in his book.

At 3: 37 p.m., Boeing 737 received a notice to take off. When the plane reached 16, the wings began to freeze again. Ice is very dangerous: it will make the plane overweight, distort the airflow around the wing and make the aircraft instruments malfunction.

Williams is "just an ordinary person", his mother said, and Williams also used this modest word to describe himself. On the scrapbook at home, there is a letter he wrote to his grandmother when he was 9 years old: "I got really good grades in school, and every subject was' C'." But everyone who knows him thinks he is special because he really cares about others. He has the ability to find pleasure in daily life, perhaps because he hardly enjoyed it when he was a child. When he was 5 years old, he often woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible pain in his right leg. He tried not to cry, but sometimes he cried in pain when he couldn't help it.

It took doctors five years to find the root cause: it is a rare benign tumor of the hip and needs surgery. After the operation, Williams admitted that he was "afraid". He has never mentioned his fear before, and he has never mentioned it again.

At 3: 59 pm, the plane roared on the runway. When taking off, the plane rocked and struggled to rise. Stilley, a businessman with a flight license, sat at the back of the plane and felt that Flight 90 had not climbed correctly. "We can't take off," he said to the woman next door. The pilot is trying his best to raise the plane and has just flown over two bridges on the Potomac River. Suddenly, the plane seemed to stall. "We are descending," said the co-pilot. The driver replied in awe, "I know."

On New Year's Day, Williams said to his fiancee Biggs, "I won't live long."

Maybe he had a hunch. Maybe I feel the pressure of the most difficult task in my career. For six months, he has been checking a problematic bank. The 58 results of his investigation may ruin the future of senior bank personnel. Williams always feels sorry for other people's pain. He said, "These people's lives are coming to an end."

He returned to Washington to discuss the problems of the bank with the headquarters of the government bank. A few days before he boarded Fo Air Flight 90 to Tampa, he called Biggs one night. The cold that night was rare in 100 years. There was something wrong with the heating in his hotel room. "It's too cold," he said to Biggs. "It's really cold."

At 4: 00 p.m.1,flight 90 hit the bridge on 14 street. It was "too loud," said one witness. "I couldn't even hear myself screaming." The jet plane scraped off the roofs of several cars, then split in two and fell into the frozen Potomac River. Then there was a terrible silence, which stopped the heart. Then there was chaos-the cries of dying people and injured people, the alarms of police cars, fire engines and ambulances. Many people watched helplessly as rows of passengers wearing seat belts were trapped in the cabin and sank into the glacier.

Williams came of age in 1950 in Maitong, Illinois, where there is endless arable land. He took his girlfriend Peggy to the school dance, then parked his car by the lake and waited for the rest of the people to go to the party after the dance. Peggy's window was open, and suddenly she felt a strange hand grab her arm. A burly man who was obviously drunk told her to get off. "Don't move," Williams said. He opened the car door and walked to the man. "Do you smoke?" He said quietly. Then he said a few words calmly and soon sent the man away. "Williams is very modest," Peggy replied, "but he knows what to do in an emergency."

Shortly after the crash of Flight 90, only the broken tail was still floating. Four men-two men and two women-guarded the gap in the cabin. Then a man rushed to the surface-Tirado. She is in a state of shock, her leg is broken, and her husband and baby are gone. Filch and Stilly helped her into the small circle of survivors.

Five missing survivors were lifted by water. Some people have broken their arms, others have broken their legs. Two of them had their lungs deflated by the impact of the crash. "None of us can live," someone said. Filch remembers Tirado screaming, "Where are my children? Where is my baby! "

At 4: 20 pm, I heard the sound of a police helicopter in American parks. Arthur flew low on the river by helicopter and saw only one person who seemed to be more sober than others. The river only reached his chest, but his body was straight. Usher woke up and said that his head was a little bald, his face was gray and he had a beard.

The helicopter crew released a lifeline to Bette? Hamilton, he stepped on the water about 3 meters from the tail of the plane. He took the rope, and others watched him take it to the Virginia River 90 meters away. The crew flew back and put the rope down again in the direction of baldness. He took the rope, but it was not tied to him, but was handed over to Duncan, the only surviving waiter in the crew. She took the rope, tied it under her arm and took it to the shore by helicopter.

Williams always wanted new challenges. He entered the military school at 1953. He received strict training in the classroom and playground, learned almost everything, and even stood at attention to eat. He was proud that he had survived those four years, so he kept wearing the college ring and standing.

"He only shows his advantage under pressure," said a colleague of a government bank. "He always volunteered, accepted the most difficult work and completed the task within a tight deadline. I sometimes feel that he is like a wartime hero who has no chance to play. "

Only one helicopter can fly between two bridges on the Potomac River. So the only helicopter came back, this time with two lifeline. They took down a bald man. He grabbed the rope again. At this time, did he think about his chances of survival a little? He must know that time is gradually passing, his physical strength is gradually declining, and his hope is gradually disappearing. But he handed the rope. Stilly, who was the most seriously injured among the survivors, wrapped the rope around his body and grabbed Tirado. Just as the helicopter was about to fly away, Filch grabbed the second lifeline. Stilly was in a state of shock, lost his strength and endured unbearable pain. He gradually felt that he couldn't catch Tirado, and Filch felt that she couldn't catch the straw. When the helicopter brought them ashore, both women fell into the frozen river.

Williams has been divorced for two years and is optimistic about the future. "I'm living a new life," he said to someone. He has a group of friends-he is also looking forward to marrying Biggs.

"Catch it!" Cried the man on the bridge. The tail of the plane sank gradually, but they could hardly see the head and hands of the sixth man. The helicopter landed the lifeline back and forth on Titado, who hardly floated. She grabbed the lifeline, but she had no strength. She turned over in despair and was about to sink. Then a brave bystander Coutney jumped off the glacier and dragged her to the shore.

The helicopter flew low above filch and almost touched the ice. Rescuers Windsor picked up the almost unconscious woman and took her to a safe place outside the plane.

At 4: 30 pm-29 minutes after the crash, after the first helicopter rescue 10 minutes-it was finally the bald man's turn. The helicopter flew to the sinking tail again, and the two crew members on board wanted to meet the man in the river and tell him that they had never seen such selfless courage as him. They are all looking for the hero of Flight 90. But the river is dark and empty. Bald people are gone. Later, when Windsor told his wife about it, he began to cry. "He could have gone there for the first time," said Auchaire, who was driving, "but he valued everyone more than himself. Everyone. "

Is Williams really the great sixth man in the water? Among the 79 bodies salvaged, he is the one who is the most like everyone said. His death was caused by drowning, not an impact. He was not seriously injured and could do what the sixth person did.

Although the TV cameras came to the scene soon, they were quite far away and it was dusk. In several pictures, you can recognize the back of the head and hands of that person, and you can also see a watch. Williams' watch was still running when his body was found. He was still walking when he returned it to his family, as if to say, remember me, remember me.

But some problems have not been solved. Did Williams drown himself? Why would he do that? As we may never be sure, perhaps the most important thing we should remember about that person is what Mrs Williams said about her son. "He is just an ordinary man," she said. Isn't it the "ordinary" people who saved us all at the critical moment?

(Originally published in the February issue of American Reader's Digest 1982)