Boeing 727-100

While approaching Tokyo-Haneda Airport by night and in good weather conditions, at an altitude of about 2,000 feet, the three engine aircraft went out of control and crashed into the Tokyo Bay, about 12 km southeast of the airport. Lots of debris were quickly recovered as well as the tail that sank by a depth of 20 meters. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and none of the 133 occupants survived the crash, which was the worst in Aviation History to date. At the time of the accident, the crew was approaching the airport under VFR mode in good weather conditions and did not report any issues on the frequency.

Flight 227 took off from New York-LaGuardia (LGA) for a flight to San Francisco (SFO) via Cleveland (CLE), Chicago (MDW), Denver (DEN) and Salt Lake City (SLC). The aircraft took off from Denver at 16:54 and climbed to its assigned cruising altitude of FL310. At 17:38 flight 227 began its descent for Salt Lake City. The flight proceeded in accordance with radar vectors. After a radar handoff to Salt Lake City Approach Control new clearance altitudes were given. At 17:47 the approach controller advised, "United seventy twenty seven ... five miles south of Riverton Fan Marker coming on localizer course cleared for ILS runway three four left approach." The pilot replied "Okay we're slowed to two fifty (Knots) and we're at ten (10,000 feet) we have the runway in sight now, we'll cancel and standby with you for traffic." Control of the flight was transferred to the tower and at 17:49:40 landing clearance was issued. The aircraft crossed the outer marker over 2,000 fee & above the ILS glide slope. The rate of descent during the final approach exceeded 2,000 ft/min, approximately three times the United Air Lines recommended rate of descent for landing approaches. The first officer attempted to apply power but the captain stopped him. Power was then applied too late to arrest the rate of descent. The airplane touched down 335 feet short of the threshold of runway 34L. The right and left main landing gear began to separate and the airplane slid onto the runway. Severe upward and rearward impact forces from the right main Landing gear assembly produced a large impact hole and ruptured fuel lines and the no. 3 generator leads between fuselage station 1030 and 1130 on the right side. The fuel was ignited by sparks from the fuselage scraping on the runway and/or the severed generator leads. 13 passengers were uninjured while 35 people were wounded. 43 other occupants were killed.

American Airlines Flight 383, a Boeing 727, N1996, departed New York-LaGuardia Airport (LGA) at 17:38 for a scheduled flight to the Greater Cincinnati Airport (CVG). It was to be an IFR flight with a requested cruising altitude of 35,000 ft and an estimated time en route of 1 hour 23 minutes. The en route part of the flight was uneventful. About 18:55, when the flight was about 27 miles southeast of the Greater Cincinnati Airport, radar traffic control was effected by Cincinnati Approach Control. Subsequent descent clearances were issued to the flight and at 18:57 flight 383 reported: "...out of five for four and how about a control VFR, we have the airport." The Approach Controller replied: "... continue to the airport and cleared for a visual approach to runway one eight, precip lying just to the west boundary of the airport and its ... southbound." The crew acknowledged the clearance and the controller cleared the flight to descend to 2,000 feet at their discretion. At 18:58 Approach Control advised the flight that its radar position was six miles southeast of the airport and instructed them to change to the Cincinnati tower frequency. One minute later the tower controller cleared the flight to land. During the approach the visibility at the airport deteriorated as it began to rain. The tower controller reported: "American three eighty three we are beginning to pickup a little rain right now." At 19:01:14 the tower asked: "American three eighty three you still got the runway Okay?" To which the crew replied "Ah just barely we'll ah pickup the ILS here". At this point, thirteen seconds before impact, the 727 was descending at a rate of 2100 feet/min to an altitude of approximately 725 feet (165 ft below published field elevation) with the airspeed holding at 160 knots. The descent rate then decreased to about 625 ft/min for approximately the last 10 seconds of flight with the airspeed decreasing to 147 knots at impact. The right wing struck a tree at an altitude of 665 feet msl which is approximately 225 feet below the published field elevation. The aircraft slid a distance of 340 feet relatively intact through scrub trees and ground foilage before impacting and coming to rest amidst a group of larger trees. Following impact an intense ground fire erupted which completely destroyed the aircraft cabin forward of the tail section. A stewardess and three passengers survived while 58 other occupants were killed.

A United Air Lines, Inc., Boeing 727-22, N7036U, Flight 389 (UAL 389) was a regularly scheduled domestic passenger/cargo flight from LaGuardia Airport, New York to O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois. The aircraft had arrived at LaGuardia, on the date of the accident, following a trip from Los Angeles, California, with stops at Sacramento, California, Reno, Nevada, Denver, Colorado, and Chicago, Illinois. The flight crew of UAL 389 reported for duty at LaGuardia Airport one hour before scheduled departure where they prepared for the flight to Chicago. The stewardesses arrived with the aircraft from Chicago. Persons known to have been in contact with the crew prior to their departure from New York noticed nothing unusual about their behavior or appearance. UAL 389 departed LaGuardia at 1952 on an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight plan at FL 350 and estimated their arrival time at O'Hare to be 2127. The crew reported at FL 350 at 2011.35. At 2102 UAL 389 came under control of the Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) reporting its altitude as FL 350 and was cleared to the O'Hare Airport via Pullman VORTAC direct to the Northbrook VORTAC, direct O'Hare and to maintain FL 350. This clearance was acknowledged correctly and the crew was advised that radar contact had been established. At 2103 the ARTCC controller cleared UAL 389 to descend to FL 240 and to "start descent now through 31" (FL 310). UAL 389 replied "...down to 240, leaving three five." At 2106 UAL 389 was cleared to continue its descent to 14,000 feet and given an altimeter setting of 29.90 inches for O'Hare. This message was acknowledged immediately and in reply to the controller's inquiry the crew reported they were leaving FL 280 "now." At 2109 the flight was instructed to change frequencies and within the same minute reported out of FL 260 descending to fourteen thousand. This was the last altitude information received from the crew. At 2111 the flight was cleared to descend to 6,000 feet and the clearance was immediately acknowledged correctly. At 2118:35 control of the flight was passed to Chicago Approach Control (ORD). The radar target of UAL 389 was in the vicinity of the Sturgeon Intersection (intersection of the 011 radial of Chicago Heights and 076 radial of Northbrook VORTAC, 28 miles east of Northbrook VORTAC). At 2118:38 the target was observed approximately 2 miles east of the intersection. At 2119:36 the crew contacted ORD and was advised that radar contact had been established. At this time the aircraft target was 2-3 miles west of Sturgeon. UAL 389 was cleared to maintain 6,000 feet and to depart the Northbrook VORTAC on a heading of 240 degrees. The flight was advised that instrument landing system approaches were in progress on runway 14R at O'Hare and that the current O'Hare altimeter setting was 29.93. The pilot read back the altimeter setting incorrectly, the controller corrected him, and the pilot repeated it correctly. This was the last communication received from the flight and ended at 2120:03. The airplane crashed into Lake Michigan and exploded upon impact. All 30 occupants were killed.