A United Air Lines Boeing 737-222 similar to the aircraft in the accident
Accident
Date
December 8, 1972
Summary
Stall during approach due to pilot error[1]
Site
Southeast of Chicago Midway International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. 41°45′55″N87°42′58″W / 41.7653°N 87.7160°W / 41.7653; -87.7160
Total fatalities
45
Total injuries
18
Aircraft
Aircraft type
Boeing 737-222
Aircraft name
City of Lincoln
Operator
United Air Lines
Registration
N9031U
Flight origin
Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport)
Stopover
Chicago Midway Int'l Airport
Destination
Eppley Airfield (Omaha)
Occupants
61
Passengers
55
Crew
6
Fatalities
43
Injuries
16
Survivors
18
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities
2
Ground injuries
2
Chicago
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Location in the United States
Chicago
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Location in Illinois
United Air Lines Flight 553 was a scheduled flight from Washington National Airport to Omaha, Nebraska, via Chicago Midway International Airport. On December 8, 1972, the Boeing 737-222 serving the flight, City of Lincoln, registration N9031U,[2][1]: 2 crashed while approaching Midway Airport.[1]: 1 [3][4]
The plane crashed into a residential neighborhood, destroying five houses; there was an intense ground fire. Forty-three of the 61 aboard the aircraft and two on the ground were killed.[5][6] Among the passengers killed were Illinois congressman George W. Collins, CBS News correspondent Michele Clark[7] and Dorothy Hunt, the wife of Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt.[8] This crash was the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 737, which had entered airline service nearly five years earlier in February 1968.[9]
^ abc"Aircraft Accident Report, United Airlines Inc., Boeing 737, N9031U Chicago-Midway Airport, Chicago, Illinois, December 8, 1972" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. August 29, 1973. NTSB-AAR-73-16. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
^"FAA Registry (N9031U)". Federal Aviation Administration.
^"Chicago jet crash kills 43". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. December 9, 1972. p. 1, part 1.[permanent dead link]
^"Arline plows into houses killing 46, including solon". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 9, 1972. p. 1.
^"Crash toll rises to 45". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. December 9, 1972. p. 2.
^Miller Rubin, Bonnie (December 8, 2012). "'72 Midway crash still etched into memories". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
^Weingarten, Paul (July 13, 1986). "And now, the minority view..." The Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
^"Crash Mrs. Hunt Died In Blamed On Pilot Error". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). UPI. September 28, 1973. p. 16-A. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
^Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-222 N9031U Chicago-Midway Airport, IL (MDW)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
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