Bluesky 07
Senior Member
My profession involves working with transportation accident survivors and the families of non-survivors. As with any traumatic event, from 9/11 to the loss of a family member, it's very meaningful for people to have a place for remembrance and reflection. The memorial for Comair 5191 in Lexington is a good example. One of the most touching features is that the birds, each representing the soul of a person lost in the accident, have a little compartment inside in which the person's family could place a small memento.
This is the "Silent Witness" memorial to the 1985 Arrow Air crash in Gander, Newfoundland, that killed the DC-8's eight crew members and 248 members of the 101st Airborne returning from a peacekeeping mission. They built it so the soldier is looking toward home, the Screaming Eagles' base at Fort Campbell, KY. I had the honor of visiting that one and it's a moving experience.
But what do you do when the crash happened years ago in an African desert, and there's no one to turn to for help? If you're the families of the passengers and crew of UTA Flight 772 - a French DC-10 destroyed by a terrorist bomb in 1989 - you go to the crash site, enlist some locals with trucks and camels, and use rocks, mirrors, and parts of the plane to build a magnificent memorial that can be seen from orbit.
The aerial view represents the DC-10 and its direction of flight, complete with contrails. Their remarkable effort is nothing short of inspiring to me. The story, with pics, is here. The link is to the Snopes entry. Pretty amazing.
This is the "Silent Witness" memorial to the 1985 Arrow Air crash in Gander, Newfoundland, that killed the DC-8's eight crew members and 248 members of the 101st Airborne returning from a peacekeeping mission. They built it so the soldier is looking toward home, the Screaming Eagles' base at Fort Campbell, KY. I had the honor of visiting that one and it's a moving experience.
But what do you do when the crash happened years ago in an African desert, and there's no one to turn to for help? If you're the families of the passengers and crew of UTA Flight 772 - a French DC-10 destroyed by a terrorist bomb in 1989 - you go to the crash site, enlist some locals with trucks and camels, and use rocks, mirrors, and parts of the plane to build a magnificent memorial that can be seen from orbit.
The aerial view represents the DC-10 and its direction of flight, complete with contrails. Their remarkable effort is nothing short of inspiring to me. The story, with pics, is here. The link is to the Snopes entry. Pretty amazing.
