When a Boeing 737 Spins Out of Control (United Airlines Flight 585) - DISASTER BREAKDOWN

In the 1990s a fatal mechanical fault was lurking within the tail of the world's most popular passenger plane. The Boeing 737 suffered two fatal accidents as the result of a design flaw that had been kept hidden for so long. What was it? Why wasn't it fixed? This episode of Disaster Breakdown takes a look into the accidents of United Airlines Flight 585 and USAir Flight 427 and the background of the investigation.

00:00 Intro/Eastwind 517
04:35 United Airlines Flight 585
18:52 The Depths
36:22 British Airways G-BNLY
38:06 USAir Flight 427
53:46 Closing

#aviation
#america
#boeing

Sources:

Two interviews with relatives of United 585 victims:

"The Boeing Files":

Relevant NTSB Animations:

Other Sources:

[fordxbgtfalcon]

That United 737 crash was brutal. 90% of the plane was up to 30 feet underground. The bodies were “Atomized” according to FAA.

[foo]

Engineer: "This is terrible! We have to find out how to fix this!"
CEO: "This is terrible! We have to find out how to avoid fixing this!"

[kathrynhedrick]

I’m a flight attendant, my first week at a regional airline I was working on an airplane that had a yaw damper issue resulting in an uncommanded yaw. It was one of the scariest things I’ve ever been through to this day. I am so grateful for my pilots on that day.

[ashleydavall]

The transcripts for the cockpit recording of United 585, leading up to the accident, really highlight how incredibly good both the Captain and First Officer were. These two pilots knew each other well, but they maintained impeccable professionalism throughout the flight. The moments leading up to the crash show how they had basically no time to react. The captain makes a couple of alarmed exclamations, the first officer screams in terror and then, thats it, it's over, almost as quickly as the problem started. Truly chilling and horrifying that even two great pilots could not save their plane because of this catastrophic fault.

[lostvictims]

In remembrance to those lost on USAir Flight 427:

Captain Peter Germano, 45
First Officer Charles B. Emmett III, 38
Flight Attendant Stanley Roosevelt Canty, 29
Flight Attendant April Lynn Slater, 28
Flight Attendant Sarah Elizabeth Slocum-Hamley, 28
David Donovan Garber, 39
Walter F. Heiligenberg, 56
Edwin Francisco Vega, 45
Chadwick Morris, 35
Johné Stahl Bigelow-Abbott
Ani Ardhaldjian
Narod Ardhaldjian, 2
Marla Renee Dickerson, 25
Joseph S. Duffy Jr., 28
Thomas Dean Harger, 41
Joan Elizabeth Van Bortel, 29
Edward L. Mahoney, 60
Daniel Michael Ruzich, 33
Susan Lisle Schwenkler, 31
Joel Kent Thompson, 61
Michael C. Williams, 28
Gregory Paul Morford, 40
Anthony Christopher Rich, 27
Paula Marie Rich, 29
David Huxford, 54
Patricia Harris Offley, 46
Larry J. Grondin, 41
John Joseph Kupchun, 52
Laurie Ann Baer, 32
Mary B. Havlin, 35
Deborah J. Norden, 40
David Wheeler
Todd I. Johnson, 37
Rick Schell, 44
William H. Aher, 54
Thomas Walter Arrigoni Jr., 49
Marshall Lee Berkman, 57
Harry F. Bernard, 49
Lee Scott Blake, 34
Ron Brown, 49
Ronald Cale, 47
Daniel A. Clark, 61
Guy Clegg Jr., 44
Lawrence William Cole, 33
John Cooper, 38
Michael J. Cosseboom
Timothy Kenneth Davis, 35
Randall J. Dellefield, 37
Karen Ann Dickson, 40
James R. Eller, 38
Dwight R. Evans, 41
Robert J. Evans, 52,
Michael Louis Felger
Lisa Marie Ferm, 34
Charles Fiantaca
Kevin C. Flaherty, 35
Richard Charles Garmhausen II, 33
Jeffrey Ziegler Gingerich
Leonard C. Grasso, 41
Gary Stephen Hapach, 33
Charles M. Hardobey, 45
Steven J. Heintz, 41
Joy A. Henderson, 30
Melvin LeRoy Henry Sr., 36
Scott Holden, 55
William J. Kabbert II, 39
Daniel Xavier Kafcas, 61
Thomas Leroy Kinsey, 39
Bernard J. Koch, 49
Carolyn A. Kwasnoski
Daniel Kwasnoski, 59
Robert E. Leonhardt, 47
Gerald R. Lindstrom, 60
David Warren Ling, 46
Kirk Douglas Lynn, 26
Bruce Robert Malenke, 45
Robert M. Marciniak, 23
Timothy McCoy, 27
Timothy Scott McIlvried, 32
Charles Davis McNamara, 43
Paul McSherry, 35
William I. Menarcheck Jr., 43
David A. Mirilovich, 37
David F. Musick, 55
Brian A. Nugent, 36
Brian E. Nichols, 37
Jeffrey P. O'Keefe, 36
William Criss Peters, 54
José R. Ponce Jr., 41
Santhirasegaran Ramasamy, 35
Eugene Raykin, 27
Kevin Philip Rimmell, 34
Edward Ryan
Frank A. Santamaria, 37
Alan Paul Sefcik, 43
Richard T. Schillinger, 60
Stephen M. Shortley, 37
Ernest Rusell Smathers Jr., 43
Andrew F. Solensky, 45
Janet Stamos, 40
Thomas Paul Szczur, 42
Jocelyn P. Taylor, 35
Bernie Varisco
Bernard Raymond Waters Jr., 50
Earl L. Weaver III, 50
Kathleen B. Weaver, 44
Brian Paul Weaver, 16
Lindsay Blair Weaver, 11
Scott James Weaver, 7
Lee Allan Weaver, 62
Donna A. White, 34
Edwin Wiles, 50
Curtis J. Young, 37
Michelle Maria Ziska, 36
Lance E. Schelhaas, 20
Daniel A. Averill, 43
John T. Dickens III, 47
John David Lamanca, 27
John Spahr, 49
Richard Burritt Talbot, 61
DeWitt Stewart Worrell, 54
Steve Wilson Wyant, 38
Denise Kay Jenkins, 28
Joseph Koon Jr., 50
Charlotte Lorraine Langan, 55
William Thomas Langan, 57
Manville Mayfield, 68
Nimish Virendra Oza, 28
Holmes Webb, 51
Jack R. White, 55
Paul Olson, 34
Robert J. Connolly, 43

[adamfrazer]

Whistleblowers might seem unsavory to some, but it's more than apparent just how much we've had to rely on them, to take such risks and condemnation, simply to get information we didn't even know was being concealed, distorted or blatantly ignored in the name of profit or the adherence to a schedule set by those with clout but no context for the repurcussions now inevitably set on a course with innocent, trusting lives.

[Aldairion]

A full-fledged documentary, covering multiple incidents, with an immensely deep level of research and collaborations from some of my other favorite creators - this was so worth the wait.

Keep up the excellent work!!!

[OwlRTA]

Imagine being Ron Schleede, and having Boeing trying to trick you for a second time in another United accident investigation, trying to cover up design flaws in their planes. (The other being United 811)

[shirleybrooks]

I was scheduled to be on the United flight 585 to Colorado Springs, where my son was going to pick me up. My brother and sister in law, who lived in Denver, talked me into canceling the flight and said they would drive me to the Springs the next day.

[johncompton]

I haven’t commented on a YouTube video since about 2018, but the fact that your content is on a free platform is crazy, it’s better than many documentaries out there

[sparky]

I remember hearing, that one of the engineers or investigators remembered doing the extreme thermal testing which ultimately proved, that the problem part could go wrong, when he was in the military. It was his idea to apply it. Goes to show, how investigators having various backgrounds & experiences can be helpful.

[benjie]

Never expect a corporation to take the ethical stance and admit fault.

[Deadfoot-Dan]

I was stationed at Ft. Carson, CO. in March of 1991, and it is about 5 miles from Widefield Park. I remember driving over there and seeing the smoking remains of UAL 585 in the park, only hours after impact. It was in the middle of the park, so I couldn't see any remnants of the aircraft, but could still see the smoke from the impact crater. I parked on the street and viewed it from between two houses, and remember that there was yellow police tape running the length of the block of homes in their backyards, as these homes backed up to Widefiled Park. There was much talk at the time that the pilots deliberately put the plane down in the middle of this park, which was surrounded by homes on all sides, but after watching this video it is clear to me now that it was pure luck that no one was killed on the ground.

[Notoriouskid]

The fact that the EXACT same issue had to happen 3 times before it was fixed is still mind boggling to me

[mikekeenan]

This story brings to mind the "Applegate memorandum" regarding the DC-10's cargo door problem. In both cases, a known problem that the companies kept quiet about until things went terribly wrong.

[romanregman]

Don't worry, the management of Boeing & Parker all lived happily ever after, with fat bonuses and fat retirement benefits allowing for a lifetime of visiting tropical islands - on their luxury yachts or on planes they're sure won't crash.

[wesrrowlands]

The loss of flight 427 had a larger effect than you would imagine, live about 2 hours north and some of the volunteers from here went down to help and I think they're still haunted by it. Sad part is this isn't the first time a manufacturer had a bad design that they ignored repeatedly that downed planes.

[prime]

I'm glad Boeing learned from these accidents, and never covered up a malfunctioning flight system ever again. /s

[darebear]

This was an enlightening deep dive into this tragic oversight. I was flying B737-200 as a flight attendant in the late 90's and this situation created a lot of fear for passengers and crew alike. Had we known the depth of the circumstances at the time, it would have been much worse and I remember being smoothed over about our fears. We can only believe what we were told at the time. Who knows what was really going on? Yikes. Thankfully, incident free. Your videos are excellent. Keep them going!

[geminian]

Interesting that Boeing's secretive attitude to the servo actuator problem predates its merger with M-D. So perhaps the change in corporate culture at Boeing, which has been widely blamed on the merger, had actually already begun earlier.