Haynes graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School, in Dallas, in 1948, and then attended Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University, where he became a member of the university"s corps of cadets. In 1956 Haynes completed his military service and joined United Airlines, eventually climbing up the airline"s pilots" ranks until he became a captain.
Haynes gained international fame in 1989, when he, together with the rest of his crew and Dennis East. Fitch, a United District of Columbia-10 flight instructor who was a passenger on the flight, limited the loss of life by crash-landing United Airlines Flight 232, a damaged District of Columbia-10 jetliner, at Sioux City Airport. Subsequently he entered Navy flight training and was commissioned a Marine Corps aviator. He began flying for United as a Boeing 727 first officer, and was later promoted to District of Columbia-8 and District of Columbia-10 first officer, before becoming a captain on the Boeing 727.
Haynes later became a District of Columbia-10 captain.
As a pilot for United, Haynes was based at Seattle, Washington for virtually his entire 35-year career. With Haynes as captain, the airliner suffered damage to its number two (center) engine which caused all three of its hydraulic control systems to fail—an unprecedented problem that made the aircraft nearly impossible to fly or land.
Captain Haynes, first officer William Records, flight engineer Dudley Dvorak, and Fitch (an off-duty flight instructor who had been a passenger on the flight but came forward to offer his help) figured out how to gain some control of the plane. They were eventually able to get the severely disabled airliner to the Sioux City, Iowa airport, where they crash-landed.
A portion of the fuselage ended up in an adjoining corn field
Although there were 111 fatalities, a remarkable 185 people survived the crash. Haynes kept his sense of humor during the emergency, as recorded on the plane"s CVR:
Fitch: I"ll tell you what, we"ll have a beer when this is all done. Haynes: Well I don"t drink, but I"ll sure as hell have one. and later:
Sioux City Approach: United Two Thirty-Two Heavy, the wind"s currently three six zero at one one.
Three sixty at eleven.
You"re cleared to land on any runway. Haynes: Roger. You want to be particular and make it a runway, huh? A more serious remark often quoted from Haynes was made when air traffic controllers asked the crew to make a left turn to keep them clear of the city:
Whatever you do, keep us away from the city.
After the crash, Haynes continued as an airline pilot until his mandatory retirement in 1991. Several United 232 survivors flew as passengers on his final flight as an airline pilot.
Haynes received major media attention when Charlton Heston played him in a 1992 movie A Thousand Heroes.
The story of Flight 232 was famous worldwide, and Haynes started speaking about it at lunches and meetings He also became a post traumatic stress disorder speaker and emergency situations trainer. In 1990 he was inducted into the Woodrow Wilson High School Hall of Fame.
In 1991 The Honourable Company of Air Pilots honoured Haynes with the Hugh Gordon-Burge Memorial Award.
By 2003, her disease was in an advanced stage and she required a bone marrow transplant. Because his daughter"s insurance would not cover the operation, First Rate (at Lloyd's) Haynes needed help from the Air Lincolnshire Pilots Association, which donated money and brought the Haynes" monetary plight to light.
Many survivors of Flight 232 found out about the case and they also helped raise money.
