United Airlines Flight 173
A United Airlines Douglas DC-8 similar to the one involved in the crash
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| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | December 28, 1978 |
| Summary | Fuel exhaustion due to pilot error (lack of situational awareness) and maintenance error with landing gear |
| Site | Near Portland International Airport, Portland, Oregon, USA 45°31′21″N 122°29′59″W / 45.5225°N 122.499722°WCoordinates: 45°31′21″N 122°29′59″W / 45.5225°N 122.499722°W |
| Passengers | 181 |
| Crew | 8 |
| Fatalities | 10 |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 24 |
| Survivors | 179 |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell-Douglas DC-8-61 |
| Operator | United Airlines |
| Registration | N8082U |
| Flight origin | John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York |
| Stopover | Stapleton International Airport, Denver, Colorado |
| Destination | Portland International Airport, Portland, Oregon |
United Airlines Flight 173 was a scheduled flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, New York to Portland International Airport in Portland, Oregon, with a scheduled stop in Denver, Colorado. On December 28, 1978, the aircraft flying this route ran out of fuel and crashed in a suburban Portland neighborhood near NE 158th Avenue and East Burnside Street.
Flight 173 was piloted by an experienced cockpit crew, consisting of Captain Malburn McBroom (52), First Officer Roderick Beebe (45), and Flight Engineer Forrest Mendenhall (41). McBroom had been with United Airlines for 27 years; he was one of the airline's most senior pilots with more than 27,600 hours of flight time, of which about 5,500 hours had been as a DC-8 captain. Beebe had been with the airline for 13 years and had logged more than 5,200 flight hours. Mendenhall had accrued close to 3,900 flight hours and had been with the airline for 11 years. The first officer and flight engineer had over 2,500 hours of flying experience between them in the DC-8.
Flight 173 departed from Denver about 14:47 with 189 people on board. The estimated time en route was 2 hours and 26 minutes. The planned arrival time in Portland was 17:13. According to the automatic flight plan and monitoring system, the total amount of fuel required for the flight to Portland was 31,900 lbs. There was 46,700 lbs. of fuel on board the aircraft when it departed the gate in Denver.
As the landing gear was being lowered on approach to Portland International Airport, the crew felt an abnormal vibration and yaw of the aircraft as well as a lack of an indicator light showing the gear was lowered unsuccessfully. The crew requested a holding pattern to diagnose the problem, and for approximately the next hour the crew worked to identify the status of the landing gear and prepare for a potential emergency landing. During this time, none of the three cockpit flight crew effectively monitored the fuel levels, which was exacerbated by the fact that the gear was down with the flaps at 15 degrees during the entire hour-long holding maneuver, significantly increasing fuel burn rate. As the crew prepared for a final approach for an emergency landing into Portland, they lost the number one and number two engines to flameout, at which point a Mayday was declared. This was the last radio transmission from Flight 173 to Air Traffic Control. The plane crashed into a wooded section of a populated area of suburban Portland about 6 nautical miles southeast of the airport.
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