N245VP, the aircraft involved in the accident, at its gate at San Diego Int'l Airport, with a Southwest flight in the background.
Vapor Air flight 100 was a DC-10 that was a flight from San Diego to Anchorage, with a stopover at Avalon. The flight carried 98 passengers and 6 crew members on board, totalling to 104 people. As a result of the accident, 32 people died, including 2 of the crew members and 30 passengers. Most of this was due to injuries due to the landing.
The Flight[]
The flight was a routine flight with Draxen2, the flight captain, and 4ERI4L69, the first officer. However, after the plane took off, the following happened:
The DC-10's left engine exploded into smaller pieces, which hit the tail engine and a nearby Jolteon Airlines flight. The plane veered to the left several times and stalled from which it recovered. Many people were thrown back and fourth as this was happening.
The pilot requested to head back to San Diego, but the same Jolteon Airlines flight that the debris of this flight hit was already landing there, with emergency services and ground crew on standby. The second request was to Los Angeles. The first officer originally decided to try to land at runway 25R, but that meant that he needed too, to shut down the right engine to get there. DC-10s are unable to fly with only one engine. The next decision was to try and ditch the plane, but that would cause the plane to break up, resulting in more fatalities.
The plane continued to veer left and then the pilot shut it down. The plane was at 1500 feet and then, without any other trace, the plane glided into the Grand Canyon safely.
Legacy of VaporJet 100[]
This was the first time that a pilot ever landed their plane in the Grand Canyon. After a few weeks of the plane sitting there, it was eventually stored in a box where a cargo jet would pick it up and take it to an Aviation Museum.