Indianapolis Airport Ramada Inn, 1987
Posted by: 
Muirwoody
N 39° 43.853 W 086° 15.310
16S E 563828 N 4398154
A USAF plane crashes into a Ramada Inn, 10 die.
Waymark Code: WM1WJ
Location: Indiana, United States
Date Posted: 09/24/2005
Views: 339
On October 20, 1987 at 9:11 a.m. a USAF A-7D Corsair enroute from Pittsburgh to Nellis AFB attempted to make an emergency landing at Indianapolis International Airport after having a flameout 30 miles east of Indianapolis. The controller apparently gave him bad directions which led to him attempting to circle the airport. Flying a glider with little control, he couldn't make it and ejected at 500'. The Corsair hit the top of a Bank One building about one mile from the runway, went airborne again for 250' and hit the front of the 7-story Airport Ramada Inn. The engine and cockpit went into the lobby, the wings into the next floor above. 20,000 pounds of fuel ignited killing nine people in the hotel's lobby (a 10th died later). The Ramada stood vacant for years and is now a parking lot. The Bank One is a hospice. The pilot survived.
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