Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Seattle, Washington 98158
Thursday, October 16, 1997 8:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
As the airplane was rotated for liftoff from Seattle, the captain noticed that the EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) 'EMERGENCY DOOR' light had illuminated. According to the Airplane Fight Manual, if pressurization is normal (and it was), the crew need not take further action. During the descent for landing, a flight attendant said she heard a loud noise from the left side of the airplane. The airplane landed uneventfully at Denver. Inspection disclosed the left off-wing slide had separated from the airplane, causing minor damage to the access door, flap, and fuselage skin. The slide had been routinely replaced the previous evening by a mechanic using a flashlight and referencing the airplane maintenance manuals. After installing the slide, the mechanic closed the panel and placed the actuator handle in the horizontal position (as per instructions placarded on the maintenance access door). He said he had never received any training for installing the off-wing slide. There have been four similar incidents since the airplane entered commercial service, prompting the manufacturer to issue Service Bulletin (S.B.) 757-25-0182.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Maintenance personnel's failure to properly secure the left off-wing slide door after routine slide replacement, allowing an inflight separation of the slide. Factors were inadequate training of maintenance personnel and inadequate written instructions by the airplane manufacturer.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 10/16/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | SEATTLE |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98158 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 856 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SEA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 429 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 16000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 196 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5030 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 16 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 930 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N581UA |
| NTSB Number | FTW98IA019 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | 757-222 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 757-222 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 26701 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 230000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 207 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 19 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 258 |
| Airframe Hours | 15521 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | UNITED AIRLINES, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1200 ALGONQUIN RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | ELK GROVE TWNSP |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60007 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | UALA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SEA |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DEN |
| Destination City | DENVER |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |