Flight 232 the subject of author's survivor series - KTIV News 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and Sports

If you live in Sioux City, then no doubt you know the story of Flight 232, the United Airlines plane that disintegrated over the Siouxland skies, crashing down at Sioux Gateway Airport in 1989.

The story has been told over and over.  But, what ever happened to all of the survivors?

Miraculously, there were 184.

Laurence Gonzales has been writing about aviation since the 70's.  He wondered that very question.

It's a story he knew needed to be told.

"This is a very unusual crash in that it is a fatal crash from which 184 people survived.  That just doesn't happen.  I thought, 'wow, all those people are still out there, or many of them, and I wonder what they have to say for themselves," said Gonzales.  

Gonzales presented his findings at the Betty Strong Encounter Center Sunday.

His forthcoming book about Flight 232 includes personal interviews with not only the passengers, but first responders, air traffic controllers, nurses, and investigators.

Another book, "Surviving Survival" came out September.