Dennis Nielsen

Dennis Dean Nielsen (February 5, 1947 – September 23, 2023) was a retired United States Air Force Colonel who was most widely known for having participated in rescue effort of the United Airlines Flight 232 crash in Sioux City, Iowa in 1989. Born in Shelby, Iowa on February 5, 1947, he lived in the small town of Middlesex, North Carolina since retiring from the Air National Guard in 2002.

United Airlines Flight 232 On July 19, 1989, United Airlines Flight 232 made an emergency crash-landing in Sioux City, Iowa, killing 112 people on board, 44 minutes after suffering a catastrophic failure of its tail-mounted engine, which led to the loss of many flight controls. Dennis Nielsen had been serving with the United States Air Force since 1967 and the Iowa Air National Guard since 1972. He was one of 285 airmen of the Air National Guard who was on duty at Sioux Gateway Airport when the crash occurred, and he was well known for carrying Spencer Bailey, a baby on board the flight, to safety.

Political career After his military retirement, he has attempted to be elected to various offices in North Carolina. In 2004, he ran as a Republican against Democratic state senator A. B. Swindell; Beverly Perdue eventually became the new governor, narrowly beating Republican Pat McCrory (who became governor after Perdue in 2013).

Campaign platform In his 2008 campaign, Nielsen advocated the elimination of property tax for those over 65 years of age with an annual adjusted gross income of less than $40,000; he wanted to give tax credits to parents who home-schooled or sent their children to private schools; he proposed the creation of citizen groups that inspected state government activities on behalf of the governor; he wanted much more liberal gun laws in North Carolina; he wanted to remove vehicle inspections in North Carolina; and he promised to prosecute any employer who hired illegal immigrants, didn't submit income taxes and social security from their employees, and possibly also those who didn't pay their employees minimum wage.

In popular culture American actor John M. Jackson portrayed Dennis Nielsen in the TV film A Thousand Heroes (1992).