A Unique Scenery
George is sitting patiently in his seat, waiting for his flight to take off and make it home at last. Next to him is his dad, the man he is named after. The plane, a Galaxy Airlines-operated Lockheed L-188 Electra, leaves for Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Father and son had spent their weekend near Lake Tahoe. They walked for hours and enjoyed it so much that George even told his father that he wanted to move there someday. The two just had a perfect trip together.
Having Mixed Feelings
George had spent part of that weekend skiing at the Heavenly Mountain Resort. In the same interview, he stated, “I felt so in tune and connected to the surroundings of this beautiful country. I spent only a day in Tahoe before I stated to myself and to my dad that I wanted to make his place my home someday.”
Seven years later, in 1992, Gorge’s dream of moving to Reno came true, and he took up a job at one of the many casinos in the city. Sadly, this return to an area he was once so fond of was bittersweet…given what had happened in those intervening seven years.
The Golden Boy
George was quite a bright man at age 17. Like any other teenager at his age, George was very keen on engaging in many of the programs that young Minnesotans have, such as basketball, scouting, and church attendance.
In 2014, George told the Reno Gazette-Journal, “I grew up in a neighborhood where I was the paperboy. I was the kid that cut your grass, shoveled your sidewalk, the altar boy at Mass.” But now, he was moved by what his whole life has become. He never saw it coming.
The Big Game
On January 20, 1985, it was the first Super Bowl played in the San Francisco Bay Area. Father and son got together to watch the big game. The 49ers defeated the Dolphins by the score of 38–16, to win their second Super Bowl.
A little while after, they all decided to meet again at Reno-Cannon International Airport, which is now called Reno-Tahoe International Airport. On the flight back to Minneapolis, the Lamsons were looking forward to getting some sleep.
Going Back Home
Five crew members were working onboard Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 that night, along with 65 passengers in total. The flight departed as scheduled, but suddenly something odd was going on.
Puzzled by a heavy vibration, the aircrew was quick to reduce the power of the four engines on the plane, to find out what the cause was. Regarding reports, just one minute after takeoff, the flight's co-pilot called the tower back at Reno and enquired the staff to permit them to land back at the airport. Regrettably, Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 never made it that far.
An Accident Waiting To Happen
According to all the gathered records, the engine’s full power was never restored. The wings stalled drastically and the plane finally went down. At this moment, it was too late to change the course taken.
When the plane crashed, there was a man nearby who saw the terrible accident and immediately called the emergency services. The jet's remains were all over US Highway 395 and near South Virginia Street.
Coming Back To Life
George survived because of his seat's position, as the young man was pushed out of the plane. Later, he told the Reno Gazette-Journal, “I had been thrown through the fireball. It felt like a living hell. I never thought I would make it.”
It was only hours later when Lamson realized what had happened. He said, “Looking later at the United States National Transportation Safety Board report, I was thrown 40 feet, still in my seat, and hit the pavement. Before I was able to get up, I was knocked out. I don't know how long I was out. I thought I had died.”
Arriving At The Scene
George Kitchen, Fire Captain from the Reno Fire Department, remembered what he discovered in his arrival at the scene. He told reporters, “One of the first things we saw was the boy. He was still strapped in his seat out on South Virginia Street. He was conscious. We gave him first aid until the medics got there.”
As far as George recalled, he managed to walk away from the crash. He had suffered some scratches and burns. It was a miracle that he escaped death and not having gone thought any more pain.
A Sole Survivor
Out of the 71 passengers on the flight, only three people managed to survive: George, his father, and a man named Robert Miggins. For several days, Miggins and Lamson Sr had been suffering from their wounds. Despite all the possible efforts from the medical staff, sadly, they didn't make it through the night.
After the fatal crash, questions started to arise. Had the flight crew been accountable for the accident? Who was the young man who survived the accident? How could it be possible? The media cover was insane at that time. Everybody was looking for answers.
Putting All The Pieces Together
The United States National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB, disclosed a catalog of errors that led to the horrible crash. The plane involved had been used on several occasions before this horrendous event. It had even carried many presidential candidates in the years preceding the crash.
Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 crash inquiry focused on a horrific combination of events that shared one common issue: human error. It started when one of the catalysts engulfed a part of the plane known as an air-start access door for the disaster.
Flight From Hell
The report noted that the access door wasn't closed before takeoff. Because of this, the abnormal vibrations were felt by the crew members right after the plane departed. No one knew where to lay their eyes.
So they decided to decrease the power of the four engines, but the wings jammed before they could raise the power again. The crew was losing control, the passengers felt uneasy and anxious. They had no idea what to do to avoid such an unwanted fate.
Inquiries Never End
But how could they forget to close the air start access door? Was it merely a case of negligence on the part of the airport runway staff? Could they have avoided all of this?
As far as we know, the NTSB report stated that the situation had been a little more complicated. The ground supervisor had triggered a chain of events and it was found that the headset used to communicate with the pilot had failed.
Knowing The Truth
The damaged headphones led to a change in protocol that ultimately caused the ground handlers to alter their routine. At this point, they decided to remove the hose to avoid an emergency-stop. In the confusion of higher risk, the door to the air start access continued open.
Although the vibrations were not sufficient to threaten safety, they played a fundamental role in the collision. Some Electra pilots had indeed noticed that similar vibrations would stop at a higher velocity.
A Series Of Unfortunate Events
There was significant evidence showing that the open-air start door wasn't the cause of the crash. So the investigators started looking at the pilot cabin.
Trying to control the situation, the pilot reduced power. Therefore, the purpose can only be inferred to check the engines as the source of the vibrations. However, the power could not be restored, and the plane stalled.
A Sum Of Factors
“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the captain's failure to control and the co-pilot's failure to monitor the flight path and airspeed of the aircraft. This breakdown in crew coordination followed the onset of unexpected vibration shortly after takeoff,” the report concluded.
The NTSB report also added, "Contributing to the accident was the failure of ground handlers to properly close an air start access door, which led to the vibration." So as we have seen, it was several errors, rather than one single thing, which caused the disaster.
Everything Is Clear Now
Although we may now be aware of several reasons behind the tragedy in Reno, George himself also tried to live up to what had happened to him. But it was too painful to keep on with his life as if nothing had happened.
"I was fearful to reach out to the victims' families because I was afraid of their judgment of me. I didn't think I was worthy of the gift of being alive. I know it sounds weird, but that is what I felt," he told CNN in 2014.
Moving on
His life was on rails before the accident. It was quite tough to move on. "I was doing pretty good. I was kind of on a high because I felt like I got a second chance at life. Then when the holidays hit, there was a big vacuum… because I didn't have my father there. The family was different; they treated me differently. It wasn't their fault or anything. It was just different," he revealed to the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Yet another high-profile accident occurred in 1986 that had a significant effect on George's career. "After the holidays, I went back to school, and then the Challenger accident happened. For some reason, that triggered me into a real depression. I know it had nothing to do with me, but it was on the psyche of everyone. I saw that happen and I went, my God, that reminds me of what happened to me. I dropped out of school and fell into a tailspin," he continued.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
George was having a hard time dealing with survivor’s guilt at this time. The Reno Gazette-Journal wrote "Part of Lamson's depression… was the idea that he was being judged on how he was living his life after the accident".
He felt he was disappointing his family and the families of those who had died. It was a burden that weighed heavily on him for years. Nevertheless, he would fight back as much as he could to make them proud.
We Can't Bring Them Back Home
Because of the accident, George received an order confirmation and a settlement note. Neither the money nor the fame could bring his father back. George may have the money, but still, there is nothing like growing up without a parent to guide you along the way.
"When you give a kid a bunch of money, you can go do things or you can do bad things. I was kind of in the middle. I didn't do drugs or anything, but I kind of withdrew from life. I didn't want to have anything to do with getting a job or getting back into school. I just wanted to have fun and not do anything," he confessed.
Reaching Others
He came up with the idea of creating a Facebook page in 2010 to help other people who had had experiences similar to his. Truth be told, he was feeling quite lonely and thought that reaching out to people could be a good start.
One of these people was Bahia Bakari, the only survivor of a plane that crashed into the Indian Ocean in 2009. Her mother was among the victims of the plane crash. Bakari survived through nine hours of clinging to debris in the ocean. Amazingly, at the time, she was only 12 years old.
Making New Friends
James Polehinke is another individual George found. He was the first officer on Comair Flight 5191 that crashed during takeoff from Lexington, Kentucky, in 2006. All 47 passengers including the pilot, and an additional crew member were killed. As George and Bahia, James was the sole survivor.
In a 2013 documentary on the sole survivors of aviation accidents, Lamson, Bakari and Polehinke hit the big screen. Sole Survivor, directed by Ky Dickens, has also emphasized the issues concerning the survivors' guilt. The guilt that George very well got to know.
A Pure And True Reason
Dickens directly endured a disaster herself. She was in a car crash that killed her mother. She told the Star Tribune, "I had struggled with survivor's guilt and the 'why' questions: Why did I live? Why did he die? Why did this happen?"
Dickens declared that Lamson was the stimulus for her film. She explained to the Star Tribune, “He has been the engine of the whole thing. It started with him, and the story rests on his shoulders."
Forgive And Forget
George, for his part, resumed his uncommon life voyage with the same publication. He concluded, "I had to learn to forgive myself. I had to convince myself that I am worthy. I am blessed."
A memorial called Galaxy Grove was dedicated at Rancho San Rafael in 1986. After the plaque was stolen in 2013, a two-ton granite replacement was installed to remember all the souls we have lost in the plane's crash.
Let's Hope The Best
Whether it be a large aircraft or a small private aircraft, the facts remain that accidents may occur. Having said that, air travel is still a hugely secure way of travel, with relatively low risks involved.
Every day, engineers around the globe are designing new technologies and equipment to make air travel even safer than it is now, to ensure nobody has to go through similar tragedies anymore.