Home video footage of planes landing at O'Hare on August 26, 1979. Landings by TWA, Continental, Delta, SAS, & Northwest Orient. Also some great views of the terminal and awesome views of cars from the 1970's.
Thank you so much, and here’s especially why. In 1979, I was a Continental DC-10 Captain (Check Pilot) who’d spent so much time flying in and out of O’Hare. The excellent following shot of one of our own on the approach all but brought tears to an old man’s eyes. Romain Nelsen
Hi Romain. How long were you guys grounded after the AA191 crash? I currently fly for a major US airline. But in '79, I was a 10 year kid who would have loved to have spent the day watching airplanes, like these two lucky youngsters.
Hard to believe, but those kids at the end of the video are in their late 40s or early 50s! Great video. I grew up in Park Ridge. I used to go out to the airport to bum tours of the planes when they pulled in. My favorite was going on a TWA L-1011. Amazing airplane for the times.
@@VideofromGeorge ...It's strange. As a kid, you can't wait to get older. Time seems to pass slowly as you stare at the wall clock, from your desk in the classroom. In '79 I looked into the sky and dreamed about flying an airliner. Now, at 54, I suddenly have 10.5 years until my FAA mandated retirement. Where did all the time go?
I loved seeing all those planes landing (so many wide bodies it’s beautiful!) but also kinda cool seeing the cars, too! Cool to see how life was in my birth year!
Yeah, I was 4 years old in 1979, but still remember riding in those wide cars. And those 727s, they were abundant all throughout the 1980s too, they were like the kings of US domestic travel, the narrow-body kings. The 747s were the wide-body kings, of international travel
You stated that beautifully. I found myself wanting to go back and not only watch those planes, but just to live in 1979 again, when things were simpler, when families did things together...it was a great time to be a kid.
This was 5 months before I was born.😊Growing up in the 80s and 90s, this was much of the equipment we flew on. Flying was such an adventure. The sights, sounds, and smells of aviation in those days can never be replicated. It’s so boring now. Fabulous footage, thanks for sharing!
Hard to believe there was a time when commercial flight was fun and exciting, something we looked forward to, even the time waiting in the airport. Plenty for everyone to do to pass the time. Now it's excruciating, especially the time waiting in the airports. Great video my friend, good stuff indeed! 👍 👍
NWA 727, TWA 727, DAL 727 , TWA 707, COA DC-10, DAL 727, SAS Scandinavian DC-10 , Continental 727, Thanks for sharing! I love seeing all these older birds... especially the 727s!! That's still my all-time favorite aircraft.
Nice job on your video. Your video seems to be taken exactly almost three months after the crash of American flight 191 on Friday, May 25, 1979. AA 191 remains the single deadliest plane crash in U.S. history and was the result of the DC-10 loosing its entire left engine on take-off (nearby on one of the runways where your footage was shot). Judging from the footage of the Continental DC-10, the aircraft must have been recently been returned to service after its months long grounding. Personally speaking, your video helped me put in perspective the events of that terrible day. Thank you for sharing it.
Lived in Niles 1970 in high school My friend and I use to ride our bikes to Ohare on Higgins rd. The fence line to watch planes land on 22R. Took pics with my instamatic Kodachrome slide film Those were the days so long ago 😢
Thanks for posting this! I found this to be a real treat! Runway 14R was a great vantage point to see continuous arrivals. There was a hot dog stand across the street from where you were standing. In the late seventies my dad and I use to say "Wana go for a 14R hot dog?" I climbed one of those approach light structures for an awesome view but a DC-10 wing tip vortex sent me back down. LOL!
I was 12 in 1979 but I remember all these better & beautiful colors AA,,United, Delta, Continental & Northwest Orient had & those logo too. I remember when airports were nosey when you hear the planes idling at the gate from the parking lot & from in front of the airport. Those were the days until the present planes seem quieter from videos I've seen since I've not been to an airport in years. Thank you for sharing! 🙂👍
Fantastic video!! I remember these good ole days at O'Hare like it was yesterday. I flew to ORD a lot from EVV on Delta Airlines 727-200s and DC-9-30's. Delta pulled out of EVV and I would then take Britt Airways FH-227Bs, F-27s, and BAC-111's. Air Illinois also flew BAC-111s to ORD as well. What a variety of aircraft. Also flew Northwest Orient 727-200 to RST and North Central DC-9-30 on the return to ORD. Love the Britt Beech 99 taxing as the SAS DC-10 arrives. Thanks so very much for sharing this great video.
I remember some of those aircrafts from back in the day, the DC9s, BAC111s, F27s, and 727s. The 727s were by far the most common US domestic aircrafts throughout the 1980s, they were the kings of the sky, those wings on top of their tails was their crown. The 707s were less popular and didn't have a crown, their wings being on bottom of tail. But, that logic though only works when comparing domestic airliners, because the most popular and biggest international aircrafts, the 747s, had their wings on the bottom of their tail. Of course, I am partially joking about the wings/crown thing, lol.
Thanks for sharing this video. I lived 10 miles from ORD at that time and rode my bike there a couple of times a week to view what you posted. I recognized the 14R arrivals and actually climbed one of those approach light stands. Gotta love pre-911...
I know, when I was a kid in the 80's I would go to the airport and watch planes. I went to the gate and walked aboard a delta dc-9 and the pilots showed me the cockpit. I wish we could go back to those days again.
The old T1 at OHare! I can’t believe it! Haha! I was 5-6 years old and have vague memories and you were standing in the parking across the street! Thank you for posting. The SAS livery rocked!
in august 1979 ( but I don't remember the exact day) I arrived from Rome through Paris to O'Hare with a TWA flight 707 boeing - maybe I was into one of those
+VideofromGeorge I commented on your other video taken from Irving Pk Rd., watching this other great video I noticed at 2:24 with the Delta 727 you were on York/Elmhurst Rd northbound at Devon Ave., there used to be a gas station right on the left corner, right?
+varigdc10 Hmmmm that is me at 5:44 holding up the peace symbol - I was 9 years old. My father recorded this and is no longer alive so I do not know. Maybe someone else remembers?
VideofromGeorge Sorry about your dad, I did comment on the other video and someone responded "yes" to the location, and even responded to my view the vid was distorted, was that your father, or you? If it was him, then he must have passed since, so sorry, hate to bother you, my apologies and sincere respect.
AA's silver-bird livery was timeless . . . the silver polished aircraft with its' red, white and blue stripe and the AA logo with the eagle on the tail lasted from 1967 through 2013. The only aircraft that were actually painted at AA were its fleet of Airbus A300's - due to Airbus not providing aluminum skin panels for their aircraft and they (initially) refused to do so for AA. The Airbus flew from 1988-2009.
Time flies, doesn't it? One day you're in class learning multiplication and dreaming about your upcoming little league game. And, the next, you're wondering if you've saved enough for retirement.
Believe it or not, when you are filming the roll out of the SAS DC10 and as it slows down you see a Britt Beech 99 taxiing out, I can positively identify that Beech 99 as N320BA. Its the only 99 in the Britt fleet that doesnt have the last square passenger window spaced from the others on the left hand side of the plane and that is the one you filmed here. I have also flown on that same Beech 99, albeit 5 years later.
Im sorry to hear that. I really appreciate your sharing these videos. I grew up 100 miles West of Chicago and I never did get to see much of anything at OHare until after 1983. That line of cars parked along side Irving Park Road was awesome to see.. You cant do that kind of thing today. However, Im not sure I would even enjoy much at OHare. Back in 1979 there more airlines and aircraft types. I just wish your Dad had gotten an Ozark Air Lines airplane in there. Once again thank you for sharing!!
When every motorist driving a car had to stop at a tollbooth to pay just a mere 40 cents on the Illinois Tollway and the I PASS was nonexistent. Nowadays you can expect to pay more than $2.00 for a toll even with the I PASS.
Is it just me or did the Chicago skyline @5:09 look practically empty even for 1979? I first flew through ORD in '89 and it appeared to have way more high rise buildings.
Mr. Graham, the American 191 disaster occurred on May 25, 1979. This ORD spotting film was shot in March of that year. BTW, I ran smack into the DC-10 groundings myself in early August of that year. I was trying to get to Michigan & it took me half a morning just to get through to United Airlines reservations! I ended up flying Delta to ORD, then interlining on North Central to Muskegon.
This was filmed in late August 1979. Look at the video and see the green grass and trees. It is summer - not March. I was there - that is me holding up the peace sign at the end of the video with my brother. Perhaps DC-10s were grounded in early August, but DC-10s were flying that day. I also posted a video of us watching planes take off on the same day. Many DC-10s taking off. Clearly late summer as you can hear the crickets.
my uncle who used to work for AA and had a friend at the FAA said the death cruiser was grounded from june 6th 79 to july 13th but for the airlines and with the way the media makes things sound that was an eternity
