Page:CAB Aircraft Accident Report, United Airlines Flight 227.pdf/1

 SA. 388

ADOPTED: June 3, 1966

United Air Lines, Inc., Boeing 727, N7030U, operating as Flight 227, crashed during an attempted landing at Salt Lake City Municipal Airport, Salt Lake City, Utah, at approximately 1752 m.s.t., on November 11, 1965. Of the 85 passengers and a crew of 5 aboard, there were 43 fatalities, including 2 passengers who succumbed in the hospital several days after the accident. The 48 survivors included all crewmembers.

The flight, scheduled from LaGuardia Airport, New York, to San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California, with several intermediate stops, departed Denver at 1654. Shortly after 1748 the flight advised "... Have the runway in sight now, we'll cancel and standby with you for traffic." The high, straight-in approach continued under Visual Flight Rules (VFR). Impact occurred 335 feet short of the runway threshold, the main gear sheared, and the aircraft caught fire and slid approximately 2,838 feet on the nose gear and bottom fuselage surface, finally coming to rest approximately 150 feet off the east side of the runway.

The Board determined the probable cause of this accident was the failure of the captain to take timely action to arrest an excessive descent rate during the landing approach.

1.1 History of Flight

United Air Lines (UAL), Boeing 727, N7030U, operating as Flight 227, departed LaGuardia Airport, New York, at 1035. Regular stops en route to San Francisco, California, included Cleveland, Ohio, Chicago (Midway Airport), Illinois, Denver, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah. The flight to Denver was routine, and a crew change was accomplished.

Flight 227 departed Denver at 1654 in accordance with an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight plan. The assigned cruising altitude was Flight Level 310 and the estimated time en route was 57 minutes. Approaching the Salt Lake City area, the