When Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the icy Potomac River after striking a bridge, plane passenger Arland Williams Jr. was one of the first survivors to receive the rescue helicopter’s rope. But instead of occupying the rescuers’ time to save himself, he passed the rope to save five other survivors. But when the helicopter came back to rescue Williams, he had been pulled into the icy water.
Williams was born in Mattoon, Illinois on Sept. 23, 1935. He grew up in Illinois before attending The Citadel, the military college located in Charleston, South Carolina. While in college, he loved intramural sports and went by his high school nickname “Chub.” He graduated from The Citadel in 1957 as a business administration major and an Oscar Company sergeant.
