United Air Lines Flight 389
N7001U, the prototype Boeing 727, similar to the aircraft involved in the accident | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | August 16, 1965 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain after misread three pointer altimeter. |
| Site | Lake Michigan, United States 42°15′2″N 87°27′56″W / 42.25056°N 87.46556°W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 727-22 |
| Operator | United Air Lines |
| IATA flight No. | UA389 |
| ICAO flight No. | UAL389 |
| Call sign | UNITED 389 |
| Registration | N7036U |
| Flight origin | LaGuardia Airport, New York City, New York |
| Destination | O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois |
| Occupants | 30 |
| Passengers | 24 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Fatalities | 30 |
| Survivors | 0 |
United Air Lines Flight 389 was a scheduled flight from LaGuardia Airport, New York City, New York, to O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois. On August 16, 1965, at approximately 21:21 EST, the Boeing 727 crashed into Lake Michigan 20 miles (17 nmi; 32 km) east of Fort Sheridan, near Lake Forest, while descending from 35,000 feet (11,000 m) mean sea level (MSL). There was no indication of any unusual problem prior to impact. All 30 persons aboard, including six crew members and 24 passengers, were killed.
A definitive cause was not determined by National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators. However, it was believed that the crash was most likely the result of the pilots misreading their three-pointer (3p) altimeters by 10,000 feet.
At the time of the accident, United Air Lines had 39 other 727s in its fleet (of the 247 Boeing 727s ordered), all of which were 727-100 (727-22).
The accident was both the first hull-loss and first fatal accident of a Boeing 727.