The incident where the jet liner went into the river without any loss of life has captivated everyone, everywhere.

A much less well- known incident happened a number of years ago when an Air Force c119 full of airmen lifted off from Hamilton Field in California.

As the plane gained altitude, the pilot retracted the landing gear, and as the nose wheel came up, it turned sideways and jammed the control cables hopelessly. They could only fly in a great big circle in only one direction.

The Air Force brass decided the plane must fly off over the ocean, and all of those aboard would have to jump; they could not risk having the plane come down on land.

Nobody on board was very excited about jumping into the ocean, but fortunately for them, the flight engineer had a plan for saving the plane and passengers:

He took up the floor boards and laid a plank down into the fuselage toward the jammed wheel. Then he had to crawl out on the plank without a parachute because the space was too small.

Of course the wind was incredible, but it didn't blow him off his precarious perch.

Taking a power jack, he managed to shove the gear back where it belonged, and the plane could resume normal flight.

The only injury (other than everyone being scared to death) was wind- burned eyes for the engineer.

Strangely enough, he had to go flying again the next day, sore eyes or not.

More of the old c119's had been mothballed but they were still flying this old crate, and that's why they had the equipment on board that allowed the engineer to save the plane and crew.

In the end, everyone was very grateful for the engineer's courage and skill, and he was awarded the air medal in a big ceremony. It was another case of a 20-year man "getting the job done."

That airman was my father, Sgt. Jack Gallagher.

Dick Gallagher is a Corvallis resident.