United Air Lines Flight 859
Wreckage of the aircraft after the accident | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | July 11, 1961 |
| Summary | Mechanical failure combined with pilot error |
| Site | Denver, Colorado |
| Total fatalities | 18 |
| Total injuries | 84 |
| Aircraft | |
| A similar United DC-8 to the one involved | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-8-12 |
| Operator | United Airlines |
| IATA flight No. | UA859 |
| ICAO flight No. | UAL859 |
| Call sign | UNITED 859 |
| Registration | N8040U |
| Flight origin | Eppley Airfield, Nebraska |
| Destination | Stapleton International Airport, Colorado |
| Occupants | 122 |
| Passengers | 115 |
| Crew | 7 |
| Fatalities | 17 |
| Injuries | 84 |
| Survivors | 105 |
| Ground casualties | |
| Ground fatalities | 1 |
United Airlines Flight 859 was a Douglas DC-8, registration N8040U, on a scheduled passenger flight that crashed on landing at Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado after departing from Omaha, Nebraska's Eppley Airfield on July 11, 1961. Eighteen people were killed, and 84 were injured.
The crash was caused by the failure of the two port engines to generate reverse thrust, which sent the aircraft off the runway. One of the plane's fuel tanks subsequently ruptured and ignited.