- Date
- October 29, 1995, 12:49 local (20:49 UTC)
- Place
- San Francisco, CA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N904UABoeing B-737-500
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Not reported
- Status
- Completed · report November 30, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Case key
- 11005
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
Probable cause
The inadvertant stall for undertermined reasons.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
On October 29, 1995, at 1239 PST, a United Airlines Boeing 737-500, N904UA, experienced an upset during a maintenence test flight while on an ILS approach to San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The upset occurred when the flight crew was given a go-around by approach control and the captain selected the takeoff and go-around switch. The airplane pitched up to about 45 degrees nose up and the stick shaker activated. The pilots stated that they pushed the control column forward and both attempted to retrim the nose down but were not able to overcome the increase in pitch. The airplane stalled, rolled slightly, and the nose dropped. After the flightcrew recovered from the upset, the airplane made a normal landing at SFO.
Factual narrative
On October 29, 1995, at 1239 PST, a United Airlines Boeing 737-500, N904UA, experienced an upset during a maintenence test flight while on an ILS approach to San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The upset occurred when the flight crew was given a go-around by approach control and the captain selected the takeoff and go-around switch. The airplane pitched up to about 45 degrees nose up and the stick shaker activated. The pilots stated that they pushed the control column forward and both attempted to retrim the nose down but were not able to overcome the increase in pitch. The airplane stalled, rolled slightly, and the nose dropped. After the flightcrew recovered from the upset, the airplane made a normal landing at SFO.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N904UA
- Reported as
- Boeing B-737-500
- Category
- Airplane
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- No damage
- Fire
- Unknown
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- United Airlines
- Departed
- SFO
- Flight plan
- VFR/IFR
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Not reported
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 800 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 22, 1996, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.3 MB in all.