Boeing 737-522 N918UA

Summary

On 26 December 1997 at about 07:19 local time, a Boeing 737-522 registered N918UA was involved in an incident near Eugene, Oregon, United States. 105 people were on board and nobody was injured. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 December 1997 at 07:19

Classification

Incident

Location

Eugene, Oregon, United States

Nearest airport

Mahlon Sweet Field (EUG)

Coordinates

44.0406, -123.2200

Aircraft

Boeing 737-522

Registration

N918UA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Francisco → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

SEA98IA027

Nobody was injured.

A checklist procedure was not followed. The initiation of an evacuation was a factor.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

After the airplane had taxied to and stopped at the gate, the jetway was positioned to the 1 left door. While the passengers were beginning to deplane, the captain positioned the fuel levers to the 'cutoff' position. Ground power had not yet been connected and the airplane went dark. The captain then repositioned the fuel levers to the 'idle' position. Immediately following this action, ground personnel noticed smoke coming from the number two engine and notified the flight crew of a fire. The captain ordered an evacuation and began the checklist procedures. When the flight crew reached the position of the fuel levers step in the checklist, the captain noticed that the fuel levers were in the 'idle' position. The captain then positioned the fuel levers to the 'cutoff' position. The smoke began to dissipate from the engine and the all clear signal was given by the ground crew. After the smoke dissipated, the captain cancelled the evacuation. Approximately 20 passengers had deplaned via the 2 right slide to the ground. Another 10 to 20 passenger went out the over wing exit. Maintenance personnel inspected the engine and reported that there was no indication of an actual fire, and suspected that when the fuel lever was positioned to the 'idle' position, the fuel valve opened and jet fuel was injected into the hot decelerating engine.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.