Dornacker moved from SF to NY to do traffic for WNBC. On October 22, 1986 Dornacker was doing a live report when she and pilot, Bill Pate, were in a copter that crashed into the Hudson River. They were
Here's the chilling audio from that afternoon: Caution: the audio contents are extremely disturbing and may not be suitable for everyone. Listener discretion advised.
**Dornacker was a SF media/performing artist fixture in the 80's --she was only 39 when she died. In 1981 she got the job that earner her the broadcast acclaim as the "trafficologist" for KFRC.
In an accident only a few months earlier that saw her copter crash into the Hackensack
River she told Herb Caen, "I'm a strong swimmer. I swam from Alcatraz to Aquatic Park twice,
but it's different with a 2-ton helicopter strapped to your waist."
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| Jane Dornacker |
I remember listening that afternoon so sad. I knew the man that she was dating who worked at the 30th St Heliport in New York City and remembering how distraught he was. I'll never forget that...
ReplyDeleteCould you have chosen a more professional picture, Rich? The first thing that pops to mind is Damn, nice rack. Who was she? A little more in detail.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking tranny.
DeleteShe was great in "The Right Stuff" as the uptight nurse screening the potential astronauts. Tragic end to a promising career.
DeleteWhat? You want a mug shot? That WAS Jane.
DeleteI don't need to listen to the audio clip. Her screams of "hit the water! hit the water!" are indelibly scarred into my memory.
ReplyDeleteMine too.
DeleteJane was a fabulous performer in the seventies. She was also a great ocean swimmer. She was sexy, very funny, and a wonderful mother to her daughter. When she died, many San Francisco locals held benefits to support her daughter, led by the inimitable Robin Williams. Her last words were,"Hit the water".
ReplyDeleteProps to Christine Craft for not giving us any gory details as to how the body was found alas the JFK descriptors on a previous post. Thank god no one talks about John Denver's plane crash in pacific grove. Christine would tell us in detail how the sea gulls had their way with Denver's remains before the body was pulled out of the water...
Delete7;58, Now you have piqued my interest. So tell us, what were John Denver's remains like once they were pulled from the waters. So I have a morbid curiosity, sue me.
DeleteShe also was lead singer of Leila and the Snakes, a new-wavey cabaret band featuring Pearl E. Gates, aka Pearl Harbour. They often performed at the long-gone Palms on Polk.
ReplyDeleteThe sound of absolute, real, frightening terror. A very talented woman. Joey Reynolds never recovered and left NBC shortly thereafter. Jay Sorenson was engineering for Reynolds and it was Jay's first day at WNBC. He is now dong weekends at WCBS-FM in New York. Within just over a year. the legenday 66-WNBC became sports talk WFAN, the world's first sport talk station. It still is sportstalk to this day, owned by CBS and the station that fired another WNBC alumnus -- Don Imus.
ReplyDeleteAnd she was a backup singer for the band "The Tubes" and co-wrote the song "Don't touch me there"
ReplyDeleteJane was so funny on the radio. She overcame her fear of flying and became a traffic reporter. It was a shame that she died so young and in that way.
ReplyDeleteI thought that was Lou Reed during the Velvet Underground days.
ReplyDeleteShe drowned, but her pilot was revived and survived. She wasn't killed by the crash but because she was strapped into her seat and was knocked unconscious and was 15 feet underwater. By the time they got to her, they couldn't revive her. The pilot was lucky.
ReplyDeleteI still remember her tagline... Don't forget to put on your K F R seatbelts.
ReplyDeleteI knew Jane very well. I rented a room from her and Bob in the early 70s and later I was the "roadie" for Leila and the Snakes.
ReplyDeleteIn the mid 80s I worked for NBC in Burbank and sadly the day I went to work there was the day Jane crashed. The first feed I saw was footage of the helicopter being pulled from the river.
Very sad. She was a truly great lady.
Jane Dornacker was not killed by the crash but she drowned because she couldn't get out of the helicopter and in in 15 foot deep water. Her pilot survived, although he had serious injuries.
ReplyDelete