The event to raise funds for the Jason Dahl Scholarship Fund for this year will occur at the Grand Hyatt Denver on the evening of Saturday, September 10, 2016 — just a few hours shy of 15 years after the captain of United Airlines flight 93 lost his life in one of several airplane crashes caused by the attacks of terrorists on that day — from 5:00 through 10:00; and you are invited to attend.
Celebration of Heroes Evening — 2016 Edition
This event — which will bring together past, present and future aviators as the Jason Dahl Scholarship Fund honors the heroes of September 11, 2001 while awarding the recipients of the scholarship for 2016 — includes the following, with all times in the afternoon and evening Mountain Daylight Time:
- Cocktail time from 5:00 through 7:00; and you will have the opportunity to socialize and review silent auction items if you arrive early enough
- Live music from 6:00 through 7:00 by the Spinphony Strings Quartet
- Silent auction from 6:00 through 10:00
- Dinner from 7:00 through 8:00
- Speaker hour from 8:00 through 9:00
- Live auction from 9:00 until…?
Featured Speaker and Masters of Ceremony
Al Haynes — who will be the featured speaker for the evening — was at the controls as captain of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft which operated as United Air Lines Flight 232 when the airplane lost an engine and all hydraulic flight controls during a flight from Denver to Chicago,. This forced an emergency crash landing at the airport in Sioux City, Iowa on Wednesday, July 19, 1989. You can meet Al Haynes at the event — where members of the flight crew of Flight 232 will be honored guests — and hear the epic tale of what happened on that fateful day.
Amelia Rose Earhart will be one of the masters of ceremony for the evening. An aviator adventurer and former reporter, Earhart circumnavigated the globe in 2014 in partnership with the Wings over the Rockies Museum. She departed on June 26, 2014 from Oakland, California in a single engine Pilatus PC-12 aircraft with Shane Jordon, who was her co-pilot. On July 11, 2014 — 17 stops, 24,300 nautical miles, 14 countries, and greater than 108 flying hours later — they landed back in Oakland without incident. Her route was across the United States; then south into the Caribbean; through northeast Brazil; across the South Atlantic Ocean; then the African continent; traversed the Indian Ocean; the Pacific Islands; and across the Pacific Ocean before returning to California.
The other master of ceremonies of the evening will be none other than the beloved Denny Flanagan, who was a captain at United Airlines and one of the pilots of its Boeing 767 airplanes but is now retired after a long and illustrious career. He has contributed articles to the Ask the Captain feature at InsideFlyer.
Honored during the evening will be the following pilots who were killed in the terrorist attacks of Tuesday, September 11, 2001:
- Jason Dahl Captain of United Airlines flight 93
- Leroy Homer First Officer of United Airlines flight 93
- Vic Saracini Captain of United Airlines flight 175
- Michael Horrocks First Officer of United Airlines flight 175
If you attend this event, you will get to meet some of the scholarship recipients — as well as honor the heroic efforts performed by members of the flight crew from such flights as United Flight 93, United Flight 175, United Flight 232, and United Flight 811, on which the Boeing 747-122 aircraft experienced a failure of a cargo door during a flight on Friday, February 24, 1989 which resulted in an explosive decompression and caused several rows of seats to be blown out of the aircraft.
Ticket Prices for the Event
Ticket prices are as follows:
- $93.00 per person in honor of the heroes of United Air Lines Flight 93
- $175.00 for a couple in honor of the heroes of United Air Lines Flight 175
- $811.00 for a table for ten people in honor of the heroes of United Air Lines Flight 811
- $232.00 at the Al Haynes table in honor of the heroes of United Air Lines Flight 232
All proceeds directly support the charities of the pilots of Flight 93 and Flight 175. Please click here to purchase your tickets.
Become a Sponsor
One way you can help the future of aviation is by becoming a sponsor. Here are the details of three different sponsorships:
Gold Sponsor — $2,000.00
- Admission for 8 to the gala
- Logo with a link to company web site at The Captain Jason Dahl Scholarship Fund Internet web site
- Recognition in all event communications
- Gala event signage and program
Silver Sponsor — $1,000.00
- Admission for 6 to the gala
- Logo with a link to company web site at The Captain Jason Dahl Scholarship Fund Internet web site
- Recognition in all event communications
Bronze Sponsor — $500.00
- Admission for 4 to the gala
- Logo with a link to company web site at The Captain Jason Dahl Scholarship Fund Internet web site
How to Help Without Attending
If you cannot attend, please consider joining the Just A Buck program by clicking here and clicking the donation link. Submit your dollar and activate the monthly donation box by clicking on it. For additional information on the fund — or to make a donation — please visit www.dahlfund.org.
Individual donations can also be sent to the following address:
The Captain Jason Dahl Scholarship Fund
9956 West Remington Place
Unit A-10 Suite 93
Littleton, Colorado 80127
Summary
The team of this special scholarship fund — which is an IRS qualified 501(c)3 Non-Profit Corporation established to provide scholarships for qualified students who wish to attend accredited commercial flight training schools in the United States — has been a close friend of the frequent flier community in general for years. Members of the frequent flier community — such as InsideFlyer — have generously supported this noble cause in return, with the Brooklyn Reality Tour as hosted by InsideFlyer member dhammer53 back in 2013 as only one example.
As for the work of the scholarship fund, almost $200,000.00 in aviation scholarships over the years to greater than 100 individuals from 26 different four-year aviation degree school programs. $32,000.00 in scholarships were awarded in 2016 alone.
Please consider supporting this worthy cause — whether or not you decide to attend what promises to be an exciting event.
