On July 16, 1971, Hare-Fly Flight 616 departed from Greater Rockford, Chicago, bound for Orchard Field International Airport. Suddenly, a critical hydraulic pump failed and broke, causing the tail of the plane to detach and plummet into the ocean. The hydraulics and other mechanisms that secured the tail to the fuselage ignited, creating a massive fireball that gradually engulfed the middle section of the fuselage. A similar malfunction occurred in the cockpit section. Eventually, the aircraft crashed onto what is believed to be Palwaukee Runway 43L and burst into flames, resulting in the deaths of the 100 survivors from the two previous detachments. Out of the 267 passengers on board, 167 perished during the detachments.
this crash (or atleast what happened in it) was inspired by TWA flight 800.
