United Airlines Flight 173
A close-up view of the aircraft wreckage | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | December 28, 1978 |
| Summary | Fuel exhaustion due to pilot error (lack of situational awareness) and maintenance error with landing gear |
| Site |
|
| Aircraft | |
| N8082U, the aircraft involved in the accident, pictured in July 1978 | |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas DC-8-61 |
| Operator | United Airlines |
| IATA flight No. | UA173 |
| ICAO flight No. | UAL173 |
| Call sign | UNITED 173 |
| Registration | N8082U |
| Flight origin | John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York, United States |
| Stopover | Stapleton International Airport, Denver, Colorado, United States |
| Destination | Portland International Airport, Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Occupants | 189 |
| Passengers | 181 |
| Crew | 8 |
| Fatalities | 10 |
| Injuries | 27 |
| Survivors | 179 |
United Airlines Flight 173 was a scheduled flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Portland International Airport in Portland, Oregon, with a scheduled stop in Denver, Colorado. On December 28, 1978, the McDonnell Douglas DC-8-61 operating the flight ran out of fuel while troubleshooting a landing gear problem and crashed in a suburban Portland neighborhood near NE 157th Avenue and East Burnside Street, killing 10 people on board.
The accident prompted the development of crew resource management in aviation.