- Date
- July 9, 1984, 14:15 local (21:15 UTC)
- Place
- Portland, OR
- Injuries
- 71 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9015UBoeing B-737-222
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 39838
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
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
After takeoff, the acft was climbing thru about 4000 ft when the APU fire warning light illuminated. The flt crew discharged the fire extinguishing units & requested an emergency landing. A teardown of the APU revealed evidence that a hard object was injested into the 1st stage compressor impeller, bending 2 of the blades. The object continued thru the eng & impacted the exducer blade. The blade failed at a crack & penetrated the exhaust pipe assembly. Hot gases then vented into the cooling air passage & overheated the tail cone & aft portion of the APU.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9015U
- Reported as
- Boeing B-737-222 (B737-222)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 19053
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-17, 16,000 lbs thrust, turbo jet
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Registered owner
- United Airlines
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- PDX · Portland, OR
- Destination
- SAN · San Diego, CA
- Flight plan
- 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
- Age
- 53
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 18,000 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PDX, 10 nm away