United Airlines Flight 859

Infobox Airliner accident|name=United Airlines Flight 859
Date=July 11 1961
Type=Mechanical Failure
Site=Denver, Colorado USA
Fatalities=18(1 on the ground)
Injuries=84
Aircraft Type=Douglas DC-8-20
Operator=United Airlines
Tail Number=airreg|N|8040U|disaster
Passengers=115
Crew=7
Survivors =104

United Airlines Flight 859 was a flight that crashed during landing at Stapleton International Airport, Denver, Colorado. The aircraft slammed into several airport vehicles, including construction equipment, and caught fire, killing 18 (including one on the ground) and injuring 104 from a total of 122 people on board.

Final Moments

The aircraft suffered a hydraulic failure while en-route. Preparation was made for what was expected to be a normal landing, after the crew followed the checklist for hydraulic failure. The plane touched down normally, but when the engines were placed in reverse, the reverser buckets for the engines on the left side failed to open. That caused those two engines to generate forward thrust, while the engines on the right side generated reverse thrust. The plane immediately began to veer to the right, as a result of that asymmetrical thrust. All the tires blew out on the right main gear, after the plane left the runway and hit a new taxiway, still under construction. The nose gear collapsed, and the fuel tank on the right wing was ruptured, starting the fatal fire. Carbon Monoxide poisoning was the cause of death for 16 of the passengers, who were not able to evacuate quickly enough. One elderly woman broke both ankles during the evacuation, and later died from shock.

Emergency response

Firefighting and rescue efforts were initiated almost immediately, but the ARFF department was understaffed and underequiped, and the vehicles they were using were from the forties. Their efforts were further hampered by a delay in getting assistance from the firefighting facilities at a nearby airbase, and from those at the town of Denver.

It was later found that seven months before the crash an FAA inspector had ruled that the airport fire department was deficient in emergency equipment, particularly water capacity, rate of discharge for foam, etc.

The fire crews were, however, praised on a personal level for their efforts.

References

* [http://www.emergency-management.net/colorado_di.htm an 'emergency-management.com' entry]

ee also

* List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners