Knowledge (XXG)

United Airlines Flight 863

Source 📝

322:, rather than using the rudder, the first officer had tried to compensate for the right drift by turning the aircraft to the left using ailerons, which control the aircraft's longitudinal "roll" axis rather than the vertical "yaw" axis which would have been the correct response to compensate for an asymmetrical thrust condition. The use of ailerons also deployed spoilers on the "down" wing, which increased the aircraft's net drag and decreased its net lift. A second activation of the stick shaker stall warning resulted. The relief pilots urged the flight crew to enter a shallow dive to gain airspeed and avoid a stall, but this soon brought the aircraft close to San Bruno Mountain. The 330: 291:
landing gear had been retracted, at approximately 300 feet (90 m) above ground level, the first officer initially believed one of the tires had failed. At the same time, the exhaust gas temperature of the #3 engine (the inboard engine on the starboard wing) rose to 750 °C (1,380 °F), exceeding the takeoff limit of 650 °C (1,202 °F). With the first officer still flying, the captain retarded the #3 engine throttle to idle, which stopped the temperature rise and aircraft vibration.
350:
of her colleagues and said, "... Is United 863 still ... oh there he is, he scared me, we lost radar, I didn't want to give you another airplane if we had a problem." In total, the aircraft had disappeared from radar for approximately 15 seconds. Residents in houses along the flight path, in South San Francisco, Daly City, and San Francisco, called into the airport to complain about the noise and voice their fears the aircraft was about to crash.
663: 311: 34: 649: 349:
By later accounts, the plane narrowly cleared San Bruno Mountain by only 100 feet (30 m). The aircraft had approached San Bruno Mountain so closely that air traffic control radars briefly stopped detecting the aircraft. An air traffic controller in the San Francisco tower was conversing with one
353:
After the near-collision, UA863 was vectored out to sea to dump fuel to reduce weight and return to San Francisco for an overweight landing. During the initial climbout, the first officer stated he had noted the aircraft was handling sluggishly and was slow to climb, which he instinctively responded
290:
entered fog at the end of runway 28R. After lifting off, the crew experienced a "loud thumping noise" accompanied by vibration just after the aircraft's landing gear had retracted. The first officer was handling the takeoff under the captain's supervision, and since the noise occurred just after the
362:
United Airlines revised its training protocols after the incident by implementing much more rigorous standards, which ultimately became industry-wide standards. All 9,500 of United's pilots were shown a recreation of the occurrence, filmed in one of United's simulators. As a compromise, pilots were
363:
required to make at least three takeoffs and landings in a 90-day period, of which at least one had to be in an actual aircraft. Aviation media consultant Barry Schiff noted the incident in an article decrying the lack of basic stick-and-rudder skills, especially among pilots who had never flown a
306:
system activated and the captain took over control of the aircraft. The captain later stated he held the aircraft level to gain airspeed and avoid a stall, but it had drifted to the right due to the imbalanced thrust and narrowly missed colliding with San Bruno Mountain, which rises to a height of
1040: 1033: 1026: 1531: 737: 354:
to by " the nose up just a bit more to climb away from the ground." The first officer had limited experience, having made only one takeoff and landing in a 747 during the year preceding the occurrence.
1536: 1541: 262:
while recovering from the engine failure. The aircraft was able to dump fuel over the Pacific Ocean and return to San Francisco for an overweight landing, but the occurrence prompted
730: 981: 1009: 1003: 723: 1546: 486: 1561: 1556: 1566: 821: 1085: 861: 851: 1238: 1279: 1126: 1073: 1338: 1332: 1326: 1167: 1108: 1490: 991: 1018: 552: 517: 338: 275: 251: 159: 90: 46: 1061: 871: 1226: 697: 1409: 1214: 1132: 941: 747: 574: 1496: 1138: 323: 422: 314:
Illustration of roll, pitch, and yaw axes. Flight 863 attempted to correct for the right drift by using roll, rather than yaw.
1185: 831: 294:
There were two non-flying relief pilots in the cockpit during takeoff; both noticed the aircraft had lost approximately 40
1484: 1344: 1309: 1244: 1144: 781: 668: 1511: 1397: 1373: 1232: 811: 1551: 1403: 1379: 1102: 1079: 911: 601: 1297: 1273: 1261: 1179: 1114: 901: 791: 283: 1391: 1220: 931: 801: 326:
then alerted the captain, who had since taken over flying the aircraft, to pull up to avoid striking the hill.
329: 1432: 771: 298:
after the problems with #3 engine and shouted 'airspeed' to the first officer to alert him to the potential
921: 334: 1438: 1161: 841: 370:
United still uses Flight 863 for its transpacific service from San Francisco to Sydney, but now using a
279: 146: 17: 1208: 961: 1444: 1350: 1267: 1120: 951: 715: 307:
1,319 feet (402 m) above sea level, excluding the television and radio towers on its summit.
1426: 1367: 1067: 971: 881: 342: 295: 259: 86: 50: 1285: 548: 525: 480: 414: 1291: 1173: 682: 163: 654: 319: 263: 185: 115: 42: 1385: 1303: 1191: 1049:
Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1990s
364: 299: 287: 255: 247: 177: 105: 38: 1525: 1510:
An asterisk (*) denotes an incident that took place either in a U.S. territory or at
53:
rises to a peak of 1,319 feet (402 m) in the background, excluding radio towers.
679:
Role of pilot lack of manual control proficiency in air transport aircraft accidents
405: 303: 310: 687: 464: 1450: 258:
was forced to shut down one of its right-wing engines and nearly collided with
33: 644: 371: 167: 623: 418: 681:. 6th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics. 406:"United 747's Near Miss Initiates A Widespread Review of Pilot Skills" 181: 328: 309: 624:"UA863 (UAL863) United Flight Tracking and History - FlightAware" 76: 1022: 719: 250:
flying United's regularly scheduled transpacific service from
1532:
Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1998
518:"United pilot inexperienced in landings nearly crashed 747" 341:(in the middle of the picture) and their proximity to 1477: 1460: 1419: 1360: 1319: 1254: 1201: 1154: 1095: 1054: 232: 224: 216: 208: 200: 192: 173: 155: 145: 137: 129: 121: 111: 101: 96: 82: 71: 63: 58: 404: 698:"OPINION: Do pilots have adequate flying skills?" 1537:Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 747 1542:Airliner accidents and incidents in California 1034: 982:Lignes Aériennes Congolaises Boeing 727 crash 731: 8: 575:"747 Just Missed San Bruno Mountain in June" 398: 396: 394: 392: 390: 388: 386: 26: 511: 509: 507: 505: 503: 501: 485:: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ( 458: 456: 454: 452: 450: 448: 446: 444: 442: 440: 1041: 1027: 1019: 862:Pakistan International Airlines Flight 544 738: 724: 716: 25: 1239:American International Airways Flight 808 686: 333:This photograph, taken from a blimp over 286:: 5:39 am, 29 June). As it took off, the 604:. Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association 602:"Proficient pilot: Lazy-rudder syndrome" 320:cockpit voice and flight data recordings 1547:United Airlines accidents and incidents 1127:Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311 1074:Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2254 822:Ariana Afghan Airlines Boeing 727 crash 382: 266:to change pilot training requirements. 1333:Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529 1327:Air Transport International Flight 782 1168:Air Transport International Flight 805 1109:Ryan International Airlines Flight 590 478: 1562:June 1998 events in the United States 1557:History of the San Francisco Bay Area 1086:Wayne County Airport runway collision 992:Thai Airways International Flight 261 852:Occidental Petroleum Boeing 737 crash 7: 403:Carley, William M. (19 March 1999). 1567:San Francisco International Airport 1280:Fairchild Air Force Base B-52 crash 696:Atkinson, James F. (11 July 2013). 555:from the original on 25 August 2014 425:from the original on 8 January 2015 337:(foreground), shows the runways at 276:San Francisco International Airport 274:Flight 863 to Sydney departed from 252:San Francisco International Airport 160:San Francisco International Airport 91:San Francisco International Airport 47:San Francisco International Airport 524:. Associated Press. Archived from 467:. Aviation Safety Reporting System 14: 1339:Alaska Boeing E-3 Sentry accident 1227:China Eastern Airlines Flight 583 1215:Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 46E 748:Aviation accidents and incidents 661: 647: 549:"A High-Flying Brush With Death" 463:Flight Crew, UA863 (June 1998). 32: 1139:Continental Express Flight 2574 516:Johnson, Glen (20 March 1999). 324:ground proximity warning system 1186:GP Express Airlines Flight 861 832:Philippine Airlines Flight 137 1: 1491:Martha's Vineyard plane crash 1485:American Airlines Flight 1420 1345:American Airlines Flight 1572 1310:Flagship Airlines Flight 3379 1245:Northwest Airlink Flight 5719 1133:L'Express Airlines Flight 508 942:Cubana de Aviación Flight 389 872:MIAT Mongolian Airlines crash 669:San Francisco Bay Area portal 600:Schiff, Barry (5 June 1999). 1512:Naval Station Guantanamo Bay 1374:Eastwind Airlines Flight 517 1233:American Airlines Flight 102 812:Formosa Airlines Flight 7623 688:10.1016/j.promfg.2015.07.862 1410:New Hampshire Learjet crash 1404:Airborne Express Flight 827 1380:Delta Air Lines Flight 1288 1103:Los Angeles runway disaster 1080:Death of Stevie Ray Vaughan 1062:Northwest Airlines Flight 5 912:Proteus Airlines Flight 706 302:danger. At that point, the 1585: 1497:South Dakota Learjet crash 1468:United Airlines Flight 863 1298:American Eagle Flight 4184 1274:Federal Express Flight 705 1262:United Express Flight 6291 1180:American Eagle Flight 5456 1115:United Airlines Flight 585 902:Indian Airlines Flight 503 892:United Airlines Flight 863 547:Orr, Bob (15 April 1999). 244:United Airlines Flight 863 27:United Airlines Flight 863 15: 1506: 1392:FedEx Express Flight 1406 1221:Alan Kulwicki plane crash 1001: 932:Myanma Airways Flight 635 802:China Airlines Flight 676 763: 282:on Sunday June 28, 1998 ( 31: 1508:This list is incomplete. 1145:Vallejo helicopter crash 782:Cavalese cable car crash 296:knots indicated airspeed 16:Not to be confused with 1433:FedEx Express Flight 14 1398:Quincy Airport disaster 772:Cebu Pacific Flight 387 702:San Francisco Chronicle 677:Arnold, Robert (2015). 579:San Francisco Chronicle 522:Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 411:The Wall Street Journal 922:Korean Air Flight 8702 346: 335:Burlingame, California 315: 23:1998 aviation incident 1439:Korean Air Flight 801 1162:CommutAir Flight 4821 842:Air France Flight 422 792:Sudan Air Force crash 332: 313: 89:, after takeoff from 18:Air Canada Flight 759 1209:Lufthansa Flight 592 962:PauknAir Flight 4101 345:(in the background). 1445:Fine Air Flight 101 1351:Tower Air Flight 41 1268:Green Ramp disaster 1121:Merion air disaster 1010:►   1999 1004:1997   ◄ 952:Swissair Flight 111 528:on 17 December 2015 28: 1552:1998 in California 1427:Comair Flight 3272 1412:(December 24 1996) 1406:(December 22 1996) 1368:ValuJet Flight 592 1111:(February 17 1991) 1068:Avianca Flight 052 1007:    972:Lionair Flight 602 882:Propair Flight 420 347: 343:San Bruno Mountain 316: 260:San Bruno Mountain 242:On June 28, 1998, 102:Aircraft type 87:San Bruno Mountain 51:San Bruno Mountain 1519: 1518: 1286:USAir Flight 1016 1105:(February 1 1991) 1070:(January 25 1990) 1016: 1015: 318:According to the 240: 239: 1574: 1441:(August 6 1997)* 1394:(September 1996) 1341:(September 1995) 1294:(September 1994) 1292:USAir Flight 427 1174:USAir Flight 405 1141:(September 1991) 1064:(January 4 1990) 1043: 1036: 1029: 1020: 1008: 758: 757: 755: 740: 733: 726: 717: 712: 710: 708: 692: 690: 671: 666: 665: 664: 657: 652: 651: 650: 635: 634: 632: 630: 620: 614: 613: 611: 609: 597: 591: 590: 588: 586: 581:. March 19, 1999 571: 565: 564: 562: 560: 544: 538: 537: 535: 533: 513: 496: 490: 484: 476: 474: 472: 460: 435: 434: 432: 430: 408: 400: 372:Boeing 777-300ER 164:San Mateo County 36: 29: 1584: 1583: 1577: 1576: 1575: 1573: 1572: 1571: 1522: 1521: 1520: 1515: 1509: 1502: 1473: 1456: 1447:(August 7 1997) 1415: 1400:(November 1996) 1356: 1353:(December 1995) 1347:(November 1995) 1329:(February 1995) 1315: 1312:(December 1994) 1306:(November 1994) 1250: 1247:(December 1993) 1235:(April 14 1993) 1211:(February 1993) 1197: 1170:(February 1992) 1150: 1091: 1088:(December 1990) 1050: 1047: 1017: 1012: 1006: 997: 996: 995: 994: 989: 985: 984: 979: 975: 974: 969: 965: 964: 959: 955: 954: 949: 945: 944: 939: 935: 934: 929: 925: 924: 919: 915: 914: 909: 905: 904: 899: 895: 894: 889: 885: 884: 879: 875: 874: 869: 865: 864: 859: 855: 854: 849: 845: 844: 839: 835: 834: 829: 825: 824: 819: 815: 814: 809: 805: 804: 799: 795: 794: 789: 785: 784: 779: 775: 774: 769: 759: 753: 751: 746: 744: 706: 704: 695: 676: 667: 662: 660: 655:Aviation portal 653: 648: 646: 643: 638: 628: 626: 622: 621: 617: 607: 605: 599: 598: 594: 584: 582: 573: 572: 568: 558: 556: 546: 545: 541: 531: 529: 515: 514: 499: 477: 470: 468: 462: 461: 438: 428: 426: 402: 401: 384: 380: 360: 272: 264:United Airlines 186:New South Wales 130:ICAO flight No. 122:IATA flight No. 116:United Airlines 54: 43:United Airlines 39:Boeing 747-400s 24: 21: 12: 11: 5: 1582: 1581: 1578: 1570: 1569: 1564: 1559: 1554: 1549: 1544: 1539: 1534: 1524: 1523: 1517: 1516: 1507: 1504: 1503: 1501: 1500: 1499:(October 1999) 1494: 1488: 1481: 1479: 1475: 1474: 1472: 1471: 1464: 1462: 1458: 1457: 1455: 1454: 1453:(October 1997) 1448: 1442: 1436: 1430: 1429:(January 1997) 1423: 1421: 1417: 1416: 1414: 1413: 1407: 1401: 1395: 1389: 1388:(July 17 1996) 1386:TWA Flight 800 1383: 1377: 1371: 1364: 1362: 1358: 1357: 1355: 1354: 1348: 1342: 1336: 1330: 1323: 1321: 1317: 1316: 1314: 1313: 1307: 1304:TWA Flight 427 1301: 1300:(October 1994) 1295: 1289: 1283: 1277: 1271: 1265: 1264:(January 1994) 1258: 1256: 1252: 1251: 1249: 1248: 1242: 1241:(August 1993)* 1236: 1230: 1229:(April 6 1993) 1224: 1223:(April 1 1993) 1218: 1212: 1205: 1203: 1199: 1198: 1196: 1195: 1192:TWA Flight 843 1189: 1183: 1182:(June 7 1992)* 1177: 1171: 1165: 1164:(January 1992) 1158: 1156: 1152: 1151: 1149: 1148: 1147:(October 1991) 1142: 1136: 1130: 1129:(April 5 1991) 1124: 1123:(April 4 1991) 1118: 1112: 1106: 1099: 1097: 1093: 1092: 1090: 1089: 1083: 1077: 1071: 1065: 1058: 1056: 1052: 1051: 1048: 1046: 1045: 1038: 1031: 1023: 1014: 1013: 1002: 999: 998: 990: 987: 986: 980: 977: 976: 970: 967: 966: 960: 957: 956: 950: 947: 946: 940: 937: 936: 930: 927: 926: 920: 917: 916: 910: 907: 906: 900: 897: 896: 890: 887: 886: 880: 877: 876: 870: 867: 866: 860: 857: 856: 850: 847: 846: 840: 837: 836: 830: 827: 826: 820: 817: 816: 810: 807: 806: 800: 797: 796: 790: 787: 786: 780: 777: 776: 770: 767: 766: 765: 764: 761: 760: 745: 743: 742: 735: 728: 720: 714: 713: 693: 673: 672: 658: 642: 641:External links 639: 637: 636: 615: 592: 566: 539: 497: 436: 381: 379: 376: 365:light aircraft 359: 356: 288:Boeing 747-400 271: 268: 256:Sydney Airport 248:Boeing 747-400 238: 237: 234: 230: 229: 226: 222: 221: 218: 214: 213: 210: 206: 205: 202: 198: 197: 194: 190: 189: 178:Sydney Airport 175: 171: 170: 157: 153: 152: 149: 143: 142: 139: 135: 134: 131: 127: 126: 123: 119: 118: 113: 109: 108: 106:Boeing 747-422 103: 99: 98: 94: 93: 84: 80: 79: 73: 69: 68: 65: 61: 60: 56: 55: 37: 22: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 1580: 1579: 1568: 1565: 1563: 1560: 1558: 1555: 1553: 1550: 1548: 1545: 1543: 1540: 1538: 1535: 1533: 1530: 1529: 1527: 1513: 1505: 1498: 1495: 1492: 1489: 1486: 1483: 1482: 1480: 1476: 1469: 1466: 1465: 1463: 1459: 1452: 1449: 1446: 1443: 1440: 1437: 1434: 1431: 1428: 1425: 1424: 1422: 1418: 1411: 1408: 1405: 1402: 1399: 1396: 1393: 1390: 1387: 1384: 1382:(July 6 1996) 1381: 1378: 1375: 1372: 1369: 1366: 1365: 1363: 1359: 1352: 1349: 1346: 1343: 1340: 1337: 1335:(August 1995) 1334: 1331: 1328: 1325: 1324: 1322: 1318: 1311: 1308: 1305: 1302: 1299: 1296: 1293: 1290: 1287: 1284: 1281: 1278: 1275: 1272: 1269: 1266: 1263: 1260: 1259: 1257: 1253: 1246: 1243: 1240: 1237: 1234: 1231: 1228: 1225: 1222: 1219: 1216: 1213: 1210: 1207: 1206: 1204: 1200: 1193: 1190: 1188:(June 8 1992) 1187: 1184: 1181: 1178: 1175: 1172: 1169: 1166: 1163: 1160: 1159: 1157: 1153: 1146: 1143: 1140: 1137: 1134: 1131: 1128: 1125: 1122: 1119: 1116: 1113: 1110: 1107: 1104: 1101: 1100: 1098: 1094: 1087: 1084: 1081: 1078: 1075: 1072: 1069: 1066: 1063: 1060: 1059: 1057: 1053: 1044: 1039: 1037: 1032: 1030: 1025: 1024: 1021: 1011: 1005: 1000: 993: 983: 973: 963: 953: 943: 933: 923: 913: 903: 893: 883: 873: 863: 853: 843: 833: 823: 813: 803: 793: 783: 773: 762: 749: 741: 736: 734: 729: 727: 722: 721: 718: 703: 699: 694: 689: 684: 680: 675: 674: 670: 659: 656: 645: 640: 625: 619: 616: 603: 596: 593: 580: 576: 570: 567: 554: 550: 543: 540: 527: 523: 519: 512: 510: 508: 506: 504: 502: 498: 495:(ACN) 406810. 494: 493:Report Number 488: 482: 466: 459: 457: 455: 453: 451: 449: 447: 445: 443: 441: 437: 424: 420: 416: 412: 407: 399: 397: 395: 393: 391: 389: 387: 383: 377: 375: 373: 368: 366: 357: 355: 351: 344: 340: 336: 331: 327: 325: 321: 312: 308: 305: 301: 297: 292: 289: 285: 281: 277: 269: 267: 265: 261: 257: 253: 249: 245: 235: 231: 227: 223: 219: 215: 211: 207: 203: 199: 195: 191: 187: 183: 179: 176: 172: 169: 165: 161: 158: 156:Flight origin 154: 150: 148: 144: 140: 136: 132: 128: 124: 120: 117: 114: 110: 107: 104: 100: 95: 92: 88: 85: 81: 78: 74: 70: 67:June 28, 1998 66: 62: 57: 52: 48: 44: 40: 35: 30: 19: 1467: 1276:(April 1994) 1270:(March 1994) 1217:(March 1993) 1176:(March 1992) 1117:(March 1991) 1082:(August 190) 1076:(April 1990) 891: 705:. Retrieved 701: 678: 629:29 September 627:. Retrieved 618: 606:. Retrieved 595: 583:. Retrieved 578: 569: 557:. Retrieved 551:. CBS News. 542: 530:. Retrieved 526:the original 521: 492: 469:. Retrieved 465:"ACN 406810" 427:. Retrieved 410: 369: 361: 352: 348: 317: 304:stick shaker 293: 278:at 10:39 pm 273: 243: 241: 147:Registration 1493:(July 1999) 1487:(June 1999) 1470:(June 1998) 1451:John Denver 1435:(July 1997) 1376:(June 1996) 1288:(July 1994) 1282:(June 1994) 1194:(July 1992) 1135:(July 1991) 491:Search for 188:, Australia 174:Destination 1526:Categories 1370:(May 1996) 707:13 January 608:13 January 559:13 January 532:13 January 471:13 January 429:13 January 378:References 217:Fatalities 201:Passengers 168:California 141:UNITED 863 59:Occurrence 585:22 August 419:0099-9660 358:Aftermath 233:Survivors 193:Occupants 138:Call sign 553:Archived 481:cite web 423:Archived 225:Injuries 112:Operator 97:Aircraft 752: ( 750:in 1998 151:Unknown 72:Summary 988:Dec 11 978:Oct 10 968:Sep 29 958:Sep 25 938:Aug 29 928:Aug 24 908:Jul 30 898:Jul 30 888:Jun 28 878:Jun 18 868:May 26 858:May 25 838:Apr 20 828:Mar 22 818:Mar 19 808:Mar 18 798:Feb 16 788:Feb 12 417:  270:Flight 182:Sydney 133:UAL863 948:Sep 2 918:Aug 5 848:May 5 778:Feb 3 768:Feb 2 300:stall 125:UA863 75:Near- 1478:1999 1461:1998 1420:1997 1361:1996 1320:1995 1255:1994 1202:1993 1155:1992 1096:1991 1055:1990 754:1998 709:2017 631:2021 610:2017 587:2019 561:2017 534:2017 487:link 473:2017 431:2017 415:ISSN 246:, a 209:Crew 83:Site 77:CFIT 64:Date 683:doi 339:SFO 284:UTC 280:PST 254:to 236:307 204:288 196:307 45:at 41:of 1528:: 700:. 577:. 520:. 500:^ 483:}} 479:{{ 439:^ 421:. 413:. 409:. 385:^ 374:. 367:. 212:19 184:, 180:, 166:, 162:, 49:; 1514:. 1042:e 1035:t 1028:v 756:) 739:e 732:t 725:v 711:. 691:. 685:: 633:. 612:. 589:. 563:. 536:. 489:) 475:. 433:. 228:0 220:0 20:.

Index

Air Canada Flight 759

Boeing 747-400s
United Airlines
San Francisco International Airport
San Bruno Mountain
CFIT
San Bruno Mountain
San Francisco International Airport
Boeing 747-422
United Airlines
Registration
San Francisco International Airport
San Mateo County
California
Sydney Airport
Sydney
New South Wales
Boeing 747-400
San Francisco International Airport
Sydney Airport
San Bruno Mountain
United Airlines
San Francisco International Airport
PST
UTC
Boeing 747-400
knots indicated airspeed
stall
stick shaker

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.