The Smart Marty Sky Dispatch
In 1989, an Iowa farmer hit a hidden jet-engine part while harvesting corn; the discovery helped investig
In October 1989, Iowa farmer Janice Sorenson discovered a titanium fan disk from the engine of United Airlines Flight 232. The discovery brought her and her husband, Dale Sorenson, a $116,000 reward from the General Electric Company, which had offered money for missing engine components following the aircraft's fatal crash in Sioux City, Iowa, on 19 July 1989.
A farmer in Iowa, Janice Sorenson, discovered a titanium fan disk from the engine of United Airlines Flight 232 while harvesting corn on her farm near Alta, about 10 miles north of the town.
The discovery occurred in October 1989 and led to investigations that connected the component to the DC-10 crash in Sioux City, Iowa, on July 19, 1989, which killed 111 of the 296 people aboard.
General Electric offered rewards for missing engine parts, with the disk itself carrying a substantial payout; the Sorensons ultimately received $116,000 for the recovered component, part of a broader GE reward program.
A neighbor, Harold Halverson, later recovered the remaining portion of the component about half a mile away in his cornfield, helping to complete the artifact associated with the crash investigation.
metallurgists later examined the disk and reported a crack that may have predated the explosion, a preliminary finding that was not yet a definitive conclusion at that time.