[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 31 (Thursday, February 16, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E379-E380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


         RICHARD DEMARY: A FLIGHT ATTENDANT ON USAIR FLIGHT 1016

                                 ______


                            HON. BUD SHUSTER

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 16, 1995
  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, sometimes, when confronted with appalling 
circumstances beyond our most ardent imagination, individuals summon 
forth courage and fortitude that nearly defies belief.
  Such is the case of Richard DeMary, a flight attendant from 
Coraopolis, PA, who was aboard the doomed USAir Flight 1016 which 
crashed near Charlotte, NC, on July 2, 1994.
  Flight 1016 took off from Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in 
heavy rain and wind. Moments later, the DC-9 plummeted into the woods, 
broke apart, and burst into a fireball.
  No Hollywood screenwriter could devise a more compelling story that 
what Mr. DeMary did in the next few minutes. An official account later 
read:

       After the aircraft came to a rest, DeMary first freed a 
     severely injured fellow flight attendant from her seat and 
     carried her from the wreckage. Despite the threat of 
     secondary explosions. DeMary returned to the aircraft and 
     rescued a small child from the tail section. He re-entered 
     the torn fuselage to pull the child's injured mother to 
     safety and returned a third time to rescue another passenger.
       His efforts did not stop there. He kicked open the door of 
     a house in which part of the aircraft was embedded and 
     attempted to reach other trapped passengers until heavy smoke 
     forced him to withdraw. Despite burns on his arms and an 
     injured ankle . . . DeMary helped move a downed telephone 
     pole that was blocking a street and preventing fire fighting 
     equipment from getting closer to the wreckage.
  [[Page E380]] Through the sound and fury, Richard DeMary was brave 
and selfless; for his actions, he as awarded the Flight Safety 
Foundation's Heroism Award.
  Deeds such as this summon within all of us a feeling of elation and 
humility. They are deeds that ask us to pause a moment and attempt to 
truly grasp the heights of human pathos and its deliverance, human 
courage.


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