Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Mahlon Sweet Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Eugene, Oregon 97402
Thursday, December 25, 1997 23:19 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After the airplane had taxied to and stopped at the gate, the jetway was positioned to the 1 left door. While the passengers were beginning to deplane, the captain positioned the fuel levers to the 'cutoff' position. Ground power had not yet been connected and the airplane went dark. The captain then repositioned the fuel levers to the 'idle' position. Immediately following this action, ground personnel noticed smoke coming from the number two engine and notified the flight crew of a fire. The captain ordered an evacuation and began the checklist procedures. When the flight crew reached the position of the fuel levers step in the checklist, the captain noticed that the fuel levers were in the 'idle' position. The captain then positioned the fuel levers to the 'cutoff' position. The smoke began to dissipate from the engine and the all clear signal was given by the ground crew. After the smoke dissipated, the captain cancelled the evacuation. Approximately 20 passengers had deplaned via the 2 right slide to the ground. Another 10 to 20 passenger went out the over wing exit. Maintenance personnel inspected the engine and reported that there was no indication of an actual fire, and suspected that when the fuel lever was positioned to the 'idle' position, the fuel valve opened and jet fuel was injected into the hot decelerating engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A checklist procedure was not followed. The initiation of an evacuation was a factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 12/25/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2319 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | EUGENE |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97402 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | MAHLON SWEET FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EUG |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 365 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2256 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | 225 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 365 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 105 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5037 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 29 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N918UA |
| NTSB Number | SEA98IA027 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | 737-522 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 737-522 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25385 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 131000 |
| 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 | 149 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 30 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 228 |
| Airframe Hours | 18287 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | UNITED AIRLINES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 66100 |
| Aircraft Owner City | CHICAGO |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60666 |
| 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 | UAIA |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SFO |
| Departure City | SAN FRANCISCO |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2150 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 28 2001 4:41PM |
| 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 | -- |