Boeing 737-500 N929UA

Summary

On 7 August 2004 at about 23:12 local time, a Boeing 737-500 registered N929UA was involved in an incident near Denver, Colorado, United States. 113 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 August 2004 at 23:12

Classification

Incident

Location

Denver, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Denver International Airport (DEN)

Coordinates

39.8511, -104.6672

Aircraft

Boeing 737-500

Registration

N929UA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Denver → Los Angeles

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN04IA124

Nobody was injured.

the inaccurate radar information due to the failure of the Airport Movement Area Surveillance radar resulting in the tower calling for the airplane to abort the takeoff, subsequently causing tire and brake damage to the airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the FAA, takeoff clearance for the flight was cancelled due to a target detected at the departure end of the runway by the airport movement area safety system (AMASS) radar system. According to a written statement from the flight crew, they successfully aborted the takeoff and were able to taxi to a deicing pad. In the captain's conversation with the tower supervisor, the supervisor stated that the tower initiated the abort call because of a target indicated on their radar. The airplane sustained damage to the tires and brakes. After the abort, hundreds of targets were displayed on the tower's radar and the supervisor believed there was a computer malfunction. Postincident investigation revealed that a dual air conditioning unit failure had occurred within the Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE) equipment room. Equipment room temperatures had elevated and caused the equipment failure.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.