FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

United Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 accident

12 Sept 1988 · Denver, CO, United States

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 · Accident: airframe, component or system failure during landing

From Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) to Denver International Airport (DEN)

Show on map Search Wikipedia NTSB source dataset
Report a problem

Event

NTSB case
DEN88MA203
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
Airline
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10

Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N1830U
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Chicago, ILTo Denver International Airport (DEN)
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 121: Air Carrier
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Landing · landing roll
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Airframe, component or system failure
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Flight engineer › Monitoring, inadequate
  • Pilot in command › Directional control, not maintained
  • Pilot in command › Reversers, improper use of
  • Thrust reverser › Inoperative
  • Thrust reverser, cockpit control › Bent
  • Thrust reverser, cockpit control › Binding(mechanical)

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

AS THE CAPT WAS DEPLOYING REVERSERS DRG LNDG, #2 & #3 REVERSERS UNLOCKED & DEPLOYED (GREEN LGT COND), BUT #1 REVERSER WAS BINDING & ONLY MOVED TO THE UNLOCKED PSN (AMBER LGT COND). CAPT WAS NOT WARNED OF THIS COND, THOUGH 2ND OFFICER SHOULD HAVE MONITORED LGTS. CAPT SAID HE RCHD TO CHECK #1 LEVER. AT ABT THAT TIME, ACFT YAWED RGT. DESPITE IMT ACTION BYTHE CAPT, DRCTNL CTL OF ACFT WAS LOST DUE TO YAWING CAUSED BY INOP THRUST REVERSER. ACFT CONTD OFF RWY, CROSSED 2 TWYS &NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED. AFTER STOPPING, EVACUATION WAS ORDERED. EVACUATION SLIDES DEPLOYED NMLY, BUT WITH THE ACFT ON ITS NOSE, USE OF SLIDES AT DOORS 4L & 4R WAS DISCONTINUED DUE TO EXCESSIVE VERTICAL ANGLE OF SLIDES. INV REVEALED THAT AFTERTCHDWN, #1 ENG ACCELERATED WITH FWD THRUST AS #2 & #3 ENGS PROVIDED REVERSE THRUST. AT ABT THE SAME TIME, THE ACFT'S NOSE LIFTED OFF THE RWY TO A 4 DEG ATTITUDE & THE ACFT WENT OFF THE RWY. AN EXAM OF THE THROTTLE QUADRANT REVEALED THE S1-847 SW WAS CURLED/TWISTED & 2 SUPPORT SHAFTS (HOLDING THE SWS) WERE BENT CAUSING INTMT OPN OF THE #1 REVERSER.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record DEN88MA203
Event ID
20001213X26819
Case number
DEN88MA203
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (5)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 7b2fba95dc6765643395d6de62b965ce31d82c56b837c3491cb6e989a047f0fc; retrieved 2026-09-18T19:18:57.860Z.
  • The NTSB's operator name is blank for N1830U; the operator shown is the name the NTSB's other records give its FAA operator code, UALA.