Awards and Honors
The Miracle
The crew of TWA's Flight 843; 5 pilots and 14 Flight Attendants, received National recognition for a job well done. Pictures and stories of Flight 843 circled the world. Newspapers and magazines wrote articles about the miracle of Flight 843. TWA was praised for its superb safety training.Never before in aviation history has a widebody aircraft become airborne, returned to the runway, - on fire, and collapsed in a field - with all on board surviving. And injuries were minimal. A sprained foot, a few scrapes and a few bruises summed up the injuries.
Honors from TWA
On March 11, 1993, the crew of Flight 843 received honors from TWA, ALPA, and IFFA. The success of the evacuation was credited to the superb safety training by TWA, the seniority and experience of the crew, and the additional crew members who were just commuting home. The evacuation of Flight 843 was considered a "textbook" evacuation. Team work by crew members was key to the success of the event. Despite fire and only 3 usable exits - 273 passengers walked away to tell the story.On March 11, 1993 Trans World Airlines bestowed upon its own the highest honors any crewmembers may receive. The teamwork and the professionalism reminded the world that TWA was to best still.The stories shared by each crewmember, their thoughts, their reactions, and how they placed the safety of their passengers first, made Flight 843 even more remarkable.
IFFA, NTSB and FAA
May 4, 1993: The Independent Federation of Flight Attendants further honored their own with an award celebration in Washington D.C. Barbara Boxer met with the Flight Attendants, to honor them. The NTSB and the FAA also presented the Flight Attendants with their highest honor awards. Congress praised the crew of Flight 843 with an article in the Congressional Record.As an added bonus - allwere invited to a private tour of the Smithsonian Aviation Museum of airline history.And it was no suprise that the name TWA was everywhere.What the NTSB and FAA found remarkable was the fact that not one crewmember left the aircraft with any personal effects. TWA training had always dictated to leave personal belongings behind - and everyone did. Plus half the Flight Attendants were running barefoot through a field filled with stickers and broken glass . TWA training always dictated to remove your shoes before jumping onto the slide. Why? Because shoes could puncture the slide creating even more problems.If you were to ask any of the 19 crewmembers individually if they felt like hero's. The response was always the same; "I was just doing my job!"The National Transportation Safety board described the Flight Attendants' actions as "exemplary."
