Flight 173

Paper Summary:

This report is a short investigative paper into what happened to United Airlines Flight 173 that crashed on December 28, 1978, into a heavily wooded but populated suburban area of Portland as it attempted to approach the Portland International Airport. It looks at how crash reconstruction experts, on-flight recorders and eye witness accounts were used to help provide insights into why the tragic event occurred.

From the Paper:

"In the flight crew's defense, they were said to have been completely preoccupied with a landing gear malfunction and therefore overlooked the fact that they were in serious trouble due to the fuel shortage. The obvious question that comes to mind about this tragedy could be that weren't there other options such as a gear up landing? There have been successful gear up landings in the past and with foam technology today, the runway could literally have been made to resemble ice. Of course fuel combustion is a major concern for gear up landings. "A commuter jet, carrying 52 passengers was forced to circle Wichita's Mid-Continent airport for 1-? hours Saturday morning."

More papers on Flight 173:

• Research Paper # 111208 : "United Airlines Flight 232"
• Essay # 74286 : "Japan Airlines - The Crash of Flight 123"
• Term Paper # 125325 : "Evolution of Vertebrate Flight"

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