United Airlines Flight 585 was
a scheduled domestic passenger
airline flight from the
now-decommissioned Stapleton
International Airport in
Denver to Colorado Springs
Airport in Colorado Springs,
Colorado.On March 3, 1991, the
Boeing 737-200, registered
N999UA, carrying 20 passengers
and 5 crew under the command
of Capt. Haro
more

United Airlines Flight 585 was
a scheduled domestic passenger
airline flight from the
now-decommissioned Stapleton
International Airport in
Denver to Colorado Springs
Airport in Colorado Springs,
Colorado.On March 3, 1991, the
Boeing 737-200, registered
N999UA, carrying 20 passengers
and 5 crew under the command
of Capt. Harold Green and
First Officer Patricia Eidson,
crashed as it was approaching
the runway for landing,
killing all 25 people on
board.While on final approach
to Runway 35 at the Colorado
Springs Airport, Flight 585
suddenly rolled to the right
and began to pitch downward,
nose first. Attempts to
initiate a go-around using a
thrust increase and 15-degree
flaps were unsuccessful. As
the altitude decreased,
acceleration increased to 4g.
The 737 crashed into nearby
Widefield Park, exploding on
impact. Patricia Eidson was
the second female pilot to die
in an accident involving a
United States commercial
airliner. The subsequent
investigation by the NTSB
lasted one year and 9 months,
but could not pinpoint the
cause. However, after the
crash of another B-737, USAir
Flight 427, the investigation
was re-opened in the UAL 585
case, and it was finally
determined that both crashes
were the result of a sudden
malfunction of the rudder
power control unit (PCU). The
pilots lost control of the
airplane because 'The rudder
surface most likely deflected
in a direction opposite to
that commanded by the pilots
as a result of a jam of the
main rudder power control unit
servo valve secondary slide to
the servo valve housing offset
from its neutral position and
overtravel of the primary
slide.' (NTSB revised report)

Category Film & Animation

Tags Air, accident, flight, airlines, disaster, united, Colorado, 1991, boeing, denver, 737, 585