Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Detroit Metro Wayne Co Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Detroit, Michigan 48242
Wednesday, February 11, 1987 23:17 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
DRG FLT, UNITED FLT 108 RECD INFO OF A BOMB THREAT. DUE TO A SHORT TIME LIMIT, SPECIFIED IN THE THREAT, THE FLT DIVERTEDTO DETROIT & THE SLIDES WERE USED TO EVACUATE THE ACFT; 8 OF 10 SLIDES DEPLOYED NMLY & WERE USED. THE SLIDE AT DOOR 4R DIDN'T INFLATE & WASN'T USED. THE FLT ATTENDANT (F/A) AT DOOR 5R PERCEIVED THAT THE SLIDE (SLIDE/RAFT) AT THAT LCTN WAS INFLATING SLOWLY. SHE PULLED WHAT SHE THOUGHT WAS THE MANUAL INFLATION HANDLE (MIH) & HEARD A HISSING SOUND. SHE THEN SENT 2 HELPERS (PAX) DWN THE SLIDE. AS THEY EGRESSED, THE SLIDE SEPD FM THE ACFT & FELL TO THE GND; 1 OF THE 2 RECD A SERIOUS BACK INJURY. AS OTR SLIDES WERE USED, 2 OTR PAX RECD SERIOUS LEG INJURIES & 16 PAX RECD MINOR INJURIES. AN INV REVEALED THE F/A AT DOOR 5R INADVERTENTLY PULLED THE RELEASE HANDLE (RH) WHEN SHE ATMTD TO USE THE MIH. BOTH HANDLES WERE MADE OF CANVAS MTRL & WERE ABOUT THE SAME SIZE. THE MIH WAS RED WITH A PIECE OF WHITE MTRL MARKED 'PULL' IN RED LTRS; THE RH WAS WHITE & WAS ALSO MARKED 'PULL' IN RED LTRS. NO REASON WAS FND FOR THE SLIDE AT DOOR 4R NOT TO ENFLATE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/11/1987 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2317 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | DETROIT |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 48242 |
| Event Date Year | 1987 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | DETROIT METRO WAYNE CO |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DTW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 639 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1051 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DTW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 639 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 0 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 16 |
| Injury Total None | 222 |
| Injury Total Serious | 3 |
| Injury Total All | 19 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1796 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 12 1987 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 3 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 35199 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 1:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4718U |
| NTSB Number | CHI87FA081 |
| 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 | 747-122 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 747-122 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 19879 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 733000 |
| 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 | 445 |
| Number of Engines | 4 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 278 |
| Airframe Hours | 52055 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| 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 | UNITED AIRLINES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P. O. BOX 66100 |
| Operator City | CHICAGO |
| Operator State | IL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 60666 |
| 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/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ORD |
| Departure City | CHICAGO |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EWR |
| Destination City | NEWARK |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 20 2002 12:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 3R |
| Runway Length | 10000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |