Mary Frances "Frankie" Housley (October 12, 1926 – January 14, 1951) was the lone

flight attendant A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...

on National Airlines Flight 83, which crashed after landing at

Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...

on January 14, 1951. She led 10 passengers to safety, then returned to the burning cabin to save an infant. She died in the attempt and was later found holding the four-month-old baby in her arms.

Early life

Mary Frances "Frankie" Housley was born in

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, the daughter of John H. Housley and Fannie Mayer Housley. She grew up in Fountain City and attended Central High School, where she was a member of the Bowling Club, Commercial Club, Science Club, and Glee Club, and a member of the honor society. She attended the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

for one year and pledged

Sigma Kappa Sigma Kappa (, also known as SK or Sig Kap) is a sorority founded on November 9, 1874 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. In 1874, Sigma Kappa was founded by five women: Mary Caffrey Low Carver, Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Mabel Fuller Pierce, ...

sorority, but left to get married. She was soon divorced, then worked as an office assistant for doctors in

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. In 1950, she applied for a job as a flight attendant with

National Airlines (1934–1980) National Airlines was an American airline that operated from 1934 to 1980. For most of its existence the company was headquartered at Miami International Airport, Florida. At its height, National Airlines had a network of "Coast-to-Coast-to-Coa ...

, and was hired the next day.

The crash

At 2:13pm, January 14, 1951, National's Flight 83, a

DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s ...

, landed in Philadelphia from

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

. It skidded off the icy runway, through a fence, and into a ditch. The left wing broke off, rupturing the gasoline tanks, and the plane caught fire. Housley opened the emergency door and saw the ground eight feet below. Returning to the cabin, she helped passengers release their seat belts, guided them to the door and gave a gentle shove to those who were hesitant to jump. After saving 10 passengers, she returned to the cabin to try to rescue a four-month-old baby. After the fire was extinguished, the bodies of five women and two infants were found, including Housley with a baby in her arms.

Aftermath

National Airlines installed a plaque in Housley's honor at Variety Children's Hospital in Miami. She was posthumously awarded the Carnegie Medal from the

Carnegie Hero Fund The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, also known as Carnegie Hero Fund, was established to recognize persons who perform extraordinary acts of heroism in civilian life in the United States and Canada, and to provide financial assistance for those d ...

in 1951. There is a memorial to her in front of the Engine 78 firehouse at Philadelphia International Airport. Entertainer

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, ...

performed a benefit show in Jacksonville to raise money for a new wing of the Hope Haven Hospital for Crippled Children to be named in Housley's honor. The Knoxville chapter of the

Shriners Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic society established in 1870 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Shriners International describes itself ...

dedicated a room in the Crippled Children’s Hospital to Frankie Housley. Fifteen years later, ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

'' published ''A Girl Named Frankie''; its author,

MacKinlay Kantor MacKinlay Kantor (February 4, 1904 – October 11, 1977), born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several set during the American Civil War, and was awarded th ...

, called her "the Bravest Woman In America." She was inducted into the Florida Aviation Hall of Fame in 2016. The bridge on Holbrook Drive in her hometown of Fountain City, Tennessee, was named in her honor in 2017. On October, 9, 2020, a Tennessee State Historical Marker (1E 136) was unveiled in her honor near the corner of Forestal Drive and Tazewell Pike in Fountain City. Mary Frances Housley Tennessee State Historical Marker

Mary Frances Housley Tennessee State Historical Marker

In popular culture

In September, 1951, her story was adapted into a comic book and she was featured on the cover of "New Heroic Comics" issue number 68, published by

Eastern Color Printing The Eastern Color Printing Company was a company that published comic books, beginning in 1933. At first, it was only newspaper comic strip reprints, but later on, original material was published. Eastern Color Printing was incorporated in 1928 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Housley, Frankie 1926 births 1951 deaths Flight attendants People from Knoxville, Tennessee Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Accidental deaths in Pennsylvania

Early life

The crash

Aftermath

In popular culture

See also

References