Arland Dean Williams Jr. (September 23, 1935 – January 13, 1982) was a passenger aboard

Air Florida Flight 90 Air Florida Flight 90 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated from Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) to Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, with an intermediate stopover at T ...

, which crashed on take-off in Washington, D.C., on January 13, 1982, killing 74 people. One of six people to initially survive the crash, he helped the other five escape the sinking plane before he himself drowned. One of the

14th Street bridges The 14th Street bridges refers to the three bridges near each other that cross the Potomac River, connecting Arlington, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Sometimes the two nearby rail bridges are included as part of the 14th Street bridge complex. ...

over the Potomac River at the crash site was renamed in his honor.

Biography

Born in

Mattoon, Illinois Mattoon ( ) is a city in Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 16,870 as of the 2020 census. The city is home to Lake Land College and has close ties with its neighbor, Charleston, Illinois, Charleston. Both are principal cit ...

, Williams was the son of a bank president. He was educated at

Mattoon High School Mattoon High School is located in Coles County, Mattoon, Illinois, United States. History The original Mattoon High School, famous for its fish-shaped fountain, was relocated in 1956; the fish fountain, which symbolizes the past and future of th ...

, where he acquired the nickname "Chub". He graduated in 1957 from The Citadel in South Carolina, served two years in the military in the United States, and attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin. He then went into banking, managing a bank in Boca Raton, Florida and in the mid-1970s became a bank examiner for the

Federal Reserve System The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. Williams was a divorced father of a daughter and a son, and was engaged to be remarried when he died. Both his high school girlfriend and his fiancée said that he was afraid of water.

Air Florida Flight 90

On January 13, 1982, during an extraordinary period of freezing weather,

took off from nearby

Washington National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, from Washington, D.C. The closest airport to the nation's capital, it is one of two airports owned by the federal government and ope ...

, failed to gain altitude, and crashed into the 14th Street Bridge, where it hit six cars and a truck on the bridge, killing four motorists. After the crash on the bridge, the plane then continued forward and plunged into the freezing Potomac River. Soon only the tail section which had broken off remained afloat. Only six of the airliner's 79 occupants (74 passengers and five crew members) survived the initial crash and were able to escape the sinking plane in the middle of the ice-choked river.

After the crash

News cameramen watched from the bridge, recording the unfolding disaster. There appeared to be no way to reach the survivors in the water. Bystanders helped as fellow passerby Roger Olian, with a makeshift rope, began an attempt to rescue them. At about 4:20 p.m., ''Eagle 1'', a U.S. Park Police helicopter based at

Anacostia Park Anacostia Park is operated by the United States National Park Service. It is one of Washington, D.C.'s largest and most important recreation areas, with over 1200 acres (4.9 km2) at multiple sites. Included in Anacostia Park are Kenilwort ...

in Washington and flown by

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

Donald W. Usher and carrying paramedic Melvin E. "Gene" Windsor, arrived and assisted with the rescue operation. At one point in the operation the helicopter's skids dipped beneath the surface of the icy water. According to the other five survivors, Williams continued to help the others reach the rescue ropes being dropped by the hovering helicopter, repeatedly passing the line to others instead of using it himself. While the other five were being taken to shore by the helicopter, the tail section of the wrecked Boeing 737 shifted and sank farther into the water, dragging Williams under the water with it. The next day, ''The Washington Post'' described his actions: An essay in ''Time'' magazine dated January 25, 1982 was written before the identity of Williams was known.

Roger Rosenblatt Roger Rosenblatt (born 1940) is an American memoirist, essayist, and novelist. He was a long-time essayist for ''Time'' magazine and ''PBS NewsHour''. Career Roger Rosenblatt began writing professionally in his mid-30s, when he became literary e ...

, the essay's author, wrote:

Legacy

The four other members of the Air Florida rescue who also risked their lives but survived were honored shortly after the disaster. It took over a year to investigate and establish without any doubt Williams's identity and actions. On June 6, 1983, Williams was posthumously awarded the United States Coast Guard's

Gold Lifesaving Medal The Gold Lifesaving Medal and Silver Lifesaving Medal are U.S. decorations issued by the United States Coast Guard. The awards were established by Act of Congress, 20 June 1874; later authorized by . These decorations are two of the oldest me ...

in a White House Oval Office presentation to his family by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

and

Secretary of Transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...

Elizabeth H. Dole. Mrs. Virginia Williams accepted the medal on her son's behalf. The docudrama '' Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac'' was aired on NBC television on April 1, 1984. It displayed the heroism of Williams, portrayed by

Donnelly Rhodes Donnelly Rhodes Henry (December 4, 1937 – January 8, 2018) was a Canadian actor. He had many American television and film credits, probably best known to American audiences as the hapless escaped convict Dutch Leitner on the soap opera spoof ' ...

. The repaired 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River at the crash site, which had been officially named the "Rochambeau Bridge", was renamed the " Arland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge" in his honor by the city government of the District of Columbia in March 1985. Senator

Ernest Hollings Ernest Frederick "Fritz" Hollings (January 1, 1922April 6, 2019) was an American politician from the U.S. state of South Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1949 ...

of South Carolina, a fellow alumnus of the Citadel, initiated the action in late 1983. In 1993, Reagan retold the story of Williams and paid tribute to him during a commencement address at the Citadel on May 15. In 2000, the Citadel — and Williams's alma mater (class of 1957) — created the Arland D. Williams Society to recognize graduates who distinguished themselves through community service. The Citadel also established the Arland D. Williams Endowed Professorship of Heroism in his honor. In August 2003, the new Arland D. Williams Jr. Elementary School in his hometown of Mattoon was dedicated to him. Pop singer

Sara Hickman Sara Hickman (born March 1, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, and artist.Houston Folk Music Archive(Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University)Guide to the Houston Folk Music Archive(Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library ...

's song "Last Man in the Water" is a tribute to Williams.

References

External links