Boeing 737-500 N930UA
17 April 1997 · Rialto, California, United States · Minor injuries
Summary
On 17 April 1997 at about 04:10 local time, a Boeing 737-500 registered N930UA was involved in an incident near Rialto, California, United States. 100 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 04:10
- Classification
- Incident
- Location
- Rialto, California, United States
- Coordinates
- 34.0994, -117.3794
- Aircraft
- Boeing 737-500
- Registration
- N930UA
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 2
- Operator
- Not recorded
- Operating rule
- Part 121: Air Carrier
- Purpose of flight
- Unknown
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- San Fransisco → Ontario
- Aircraft damage
- Not recorded
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Night/Bright
- NTSB number
- LAX97IA161
People
1 person had minor injuries.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 99 |
Probable cause
a laser light source of undetermined origin, directed by unknown person(s) toward the cockpit window of the aircraft, while the aircraft was on an approach to land.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The aircraft was on a standard instrument arrival when the captain, who was on the controls, noticed a green light illuminating the aircraft. It appeared to him that the light was tracking the aircraft, but as he pointed out that fact to the first officer, the light disappeared. The captain reported that although the light caused a minimal yet persistent loss of night vision, he was able to maintain control of the aircraft throughout the remainder of the flight. He told ATC that the light appeared to emanate from the western edge of the city. A medical examination by Air Force specialists revealed no permanent evidence of eye damage. Investigators were unable to locate the source of the light. There were no NOTAMs for laser light activity at the time of the incident.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Boeing 737 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Dec 1997 | Boeing 737-522 | Eugene, Oregon, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 17 Apr 1997 | Boeing 737-300 | Colorado Spgs, Colorado, United States | Western Pacific | No injuries | - |
| 11 May 1997 | Boeing 737-524 | Corpus Christi, Texas, United States | Continental Airlines, Inc. | No injuries | - |
| 27 Sep 1997 | Boeing 737-3T0 | Seattle, Washington, United States | Continental Airlines | No injuries | - |
| 24 Sep 1997 | Boeing 737-200RS | Salt Lake City, Utah, United States | Frontier Airlines, Inc. | Minor injuries | - |
| 8 May 1997 | Boeing 737-300 | Shenzhen, China | China Southern Airlines | Fatal | 35 |
All 1,317 records for this type
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Aug 1997 | Airbus A300 B4-203 | Los Angeles, California, United States | Pan American World Airways, In | No injuries | - |
| 15 Aug 1997 | Bell UH-1H | Tahoe City, California, United States | Usda / Forest Service | Minor injuries | - |
| 11 Oct 1997 | Cessna 152 | Julian, California, United States | Plus One Flyers, Inc. | Fatal | 1 |
| 11 Oct 1997 | Schweizer 2-32 | Warner Springs, California, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 12 Oct 1997 | Bellanca 7ECA | Tracy, California, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 26 Oct 1997 | Extra Flugzeugbau EA-300 | Castaic, California, United States | - | Fatal | 2 |