United Airlines Flight 227, B-727, Salt Lake City

The crash of United Airlines Flight 227 was included in this course because it met a number of important criteria:

• It crossed a variety of disciplines. This accident was a watershed event for cabin safety. It was also an important accident for the structures discipline and for the design of fuel system arrangement.
• There were issues that played a role in this accident that had, at their basis, a basic lack of airplane level awareness.
• There were clearly defined precursors to this accident that were not heeded.
• There were paradigms in cabin and fuel system design that just did not work.
• There were unintended effects based on design.
• And finally, flight crew actions contributed to this accident.

The aftermath of this accident drove many subsequent regulations and resulted in the first big jump in the evolution of cabin safety.

Select Next for an overview on the facts about this accident.