Chicago --

Airline pilot Denny Fitch was hitching a ride home on a DC-10 on July 19, 1989 when he heard an explosion in the back of the jet. He soon made his way to the cockpit to see if the crew needed help.

Inside, he found three men desperately trying to keep the giant plane in the air after losing all hydraulic power needed to control direction and altitude. Mr. Fitch took a seat in the only space available - the floor - and helped operate some of the only equipment still working - the wing engines - to try to land the aircraft carrying 296 people.

Mr. Fitch, who died Monday at 69, used everything he knew about flying to confront an emergency that engineers never imagined could happen to a modern jetliner.

When the crippled plane, United Airlines Flight 232, crash-landed in Sioux City, Iowa, 185 of the passengers survived - one of the most admired life-saving efforts in aviation history.

After the accident, aviation experts conducted simulations in which test pilots tried to land similarly stricken aircraft.

"I'm not aware of any that replicated the success these guys had," said Mike Hamilton, a United pilot who flew with Mr. Fitch. None of the simulator pilots were able to make a survivable landing.

"Most of the simulations never even made it close to the ground," Hamilton said.

The teamwork of Mr. Fitch and the others on the flight deck is still a model for the industry.

In an interview for a documentary about the crash, Mr. Fitch talked about how his life, anybody's life, can change in an instant.

Mr. Fitch would go on to become a motivational speaker, who advised others that they should let their family and friends know how much they're loved.

Mr. Fitch, who had suffered from brain cancer, died at his home in the Chicago suburb of St. Charles. He is survived by his wife, Rosa, three grown children, two stepchildren and 10 grandchildren.