Salt Lake City

The four engine airplane departed Ogden-Hill AFB at 0445LT on a cargo flight to Nellis AFB on behalf of the USAF, carrying three crew members and 27,552 lbs of cargo. While climbing from 12,000 to 13,000 feet, the flight indicated to Salt Lake departure control that they had lost all electrical power, the flight requested no-gyro vectors to visual flight conditions and clearance for an immediate descent to a lower altitude. During the descent, the aircraft attained a high airspeed and high rate of descent and disintegrated in flight. The three crewmembers were killed and the aircraft was destroyed. The wreckage was dispersed along a path about 1 1/2 miles long on an abandoned airport located about 4 nmi south of the Salt Lake City International Airport.

About 0138:28 m.s.t. on December 18, 1977, a United Airlines, Inc., DC-8F-54 cargo aircraft, operating as Flight 2860, crashed into a mountain in the Wasatch Range near Kaysville, Utah. The three flightcrew members, the only persons aboard the aircraft, were killed, and the aircraft was destroyed. Flight 2860 encountered electrical system problems during its descent and approach to the Salt Lake City Airport. The flight requested a holding clearance which was given by the approach controller and accepted by the flight crew. The flight then requested and received clearance to leave the approach control frequency for a "little minute" to communicate with company maintenance. Flight 2860 was absent from the Approach control frequency for 7 1/2 minutes. During that time, the flight entered an area near hazardous terrain. The approach controller recognized Flight 2860's predicament but was unable to contact the flight. When flight 2860 returned to approach control frequency, the controller told the flight that it was too close to terrain on its right and to make a left turn. After the controller repeated the instructions, the flight began a left turn and about 15 seconds later the controller told the flight to climb immediately to 8,000 feet. Eleven seconds later, the flight reported that it was climbing from 6,000 feet to 8,000 feet. The flight crashed into a 7,665-foot mountain near the 7,200-foot level. The aircraft was destroyed and all three crew members were killed.

While cruising at an altitude of 9,100 pieds by night and in poor weather conditions, the twin engine airplane struck the slope of a mountain located in the region of Stockton, Utah. SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the five occupants was found. On 13 May 1972, walkers found the wreckage in an isolated area. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and the accident was not survivable.

Airwest flight 706, a DC-9, was to fly from Los Angeles, CA (LAX) to Seattle, WA (SEA) with intermediate stops at Salt Lake City (SLC), Boise (BOI), Lewiston (LWS), Pasco (PSC) and Yakima (YKM). The aircraft departed Los Angeles at 18:02. At 18:09 the crew reported leaving FL120 and Los Angeles ARTCC cleared them direct to Daggett. At 17:16 h a US Marine Corps McDonnell F-4B Phantom 151458 departed Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Fallon for a flight to MCAS El Toro at low altitude. The aircraft had several technical difficulties, including an inoperative transponder and a leak in the oxygen system. Due to deteriorating visibility northwest of Palmdale, the crew climbed to 15,500 feet . Shortly after level-off, aircraft was 50 miles from MCAS El Toro. The pilot executed a 360° aileron roll at this time, which took approximately 3 seconds to complete. The Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) estimated that the true airspeed in the climb and after level-off was 420 knots. The F-4B collided with the Airwest DC-9 about 1 minute and 20 sec after the roll, at 15150 feet. After the collision, the F-4 began to tumble violently about the lateral axis. The RIO waited about 5 seconds, and, after seeing numerous warning lights in the cockpit, he ejected from the aircraft . The ejection was successful, and he parachuted to the ground without injury. The other F-4 crewmember did not survive the accident.

During the takeoff roll at Salt Lake City Airport, the crew completed the rotation too early. The aircraft stalled then crashed in flames near the runway. The aircraft was destroyed and both pilots were killed.

Shortly after takeoff, while in initial climb, both engines failed simultaneously. The captain raised the undercarriage and attempted an emergency landing. The airplane belly landed in a field and came to rest near the airport. All five occupants were injured, one of them seriously. The aircraft was destroyed.

The crew departed Salt Lake City Airport for a local training flight. Three minutes after passing 9,000 feet, still climbing to reach FL130, the crew informed ATC about smoke in the cockpit. Shortly later, the aircraft entered an emergency descent until il crashed in Woods Cross, about 6 miles northeast of the airport. The aircraft owned by Thomas J. Carter was destroyed and both pilots were killed.

The airplane was on a charter flight from Salt Lake City to Albuquerque with an intermediate stop at Provo, carrying football supporters. Four minutes after its departure from Salt Lake City Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions when, at an altitude of 5,500 feet, the airplane struck the slope of a mountain located 22 miles south of Salt Lake City. The wreckage was found 11 feet below the summit (5,449 feet) and was destroyed upon impact. All 13 occupants were killed, among them the captain Garth Edde who founded Edde Airlines in 1960. At the time of the accident, the airplane was one mile east of the intended track.

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.

This flight was designated by West Coast Airlines, Inc., (WCA) as Pilot Training Flight No. 703. It was for the purpose of rating a company DC-3 captain for F-27 aircraft. N 2703 arrived at Salt Lake City Municipal Airport January 17, 1963, at 1431 1 as West Coast Flight 752 from Seattle, Washington, with stops at Yakima, Pasco, Walla Walla, all in Washington; Lewiston, Montana; and Boise and Twin Falls, both in Idaho. The flight had been uneventful and there were no carryover discrepancies entered in the aircraft's flight log. After completion of turnaround servicing, N 2703 departed the West Coast Airlines ramp at approximately 1506 with Company Cheek Pilot Instructor William Harvey Lockwood, Trainee Captain Elmer J. Cook, and FAA Carrier Inspector Buell Z. Davis aboard. A flight plan was prepared and signed by Captain Lockwood. It listed Elmer J. Cook as the first officer, FAA Inspector Buell Z. Davis as a crew member, and specified that the flight would be in the local area, under VFR conditions, and of 1 hour and 30 minutes duration. At departure Captain Cook occupied the left pilot seat, Captain Lockwood the right pilot seat, and Inspector Davis the observer's (jump) seat. The aircraft carried approximately 3,500 pounds of fuel which was ample for the intended flight. The aircraft's computed gross weight was 28,310 pounds, approximately 7,000 pounds less than maximum allowable for takeoff, and the center of gravity was within prescribed limit. Flight 703 took of f at 1510 and remained in the traffic pattern for a practice landing which was made at 1517. At 1522, Flight 703 made a second takeoff and was last observed three miles south of the airport by the local controller in the tower. The tower clearance for this takeoff was the last radio contact with the flight. The next known sighting of Flight 703 was from the air by the crew of Western Airlines Flight No. 38. At 1531 they observed it at an estimated altitude of 8,000 feet mean sea level (m.s.l.) descending to an estimated altitude of 7,000 feet m.s.l. with the left propeller feathered. It was headed southeasterly, and in the vicinity of the southern tip of Antelope Island in Great Salt Lake, some 10 miles west-northwest of the airport. Several minutes later, the ground controller in the Salt Lake City Tower observed Flight 703 for a few minutes. He saw it approaching the airport from the west at an estimated altitude of 8,000 feet above the ground. It appeared to be flying level as it came approximately over him, continuing a few miles to the east and over Salt Lake City. It then made a right turn to a west-northwesterly heading and continued in that direction until the controller discontinued watching it at a point approximately five miles west of the airport. He did not notice anything unusual about the aircraft's appearance or performance. The next observation of Flight 703 was by a motorist near the southeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake who saw it at an estimated 3,000 feet above the ground descending. He estimated the time of his initial observation to be 1550. The aircraft appeared to be on a northwesterly heading making a normal descent considerate west of the Salt Lake City Airport and continued descent until it appeared "to actually go into the lake itself." He did not see any splash; his position was about six miles from where the wreckage was later found. The official U.S. Weather Bureau observation at Salt Lake City Municipal Airport at 1555 on the day of the accident was: Ceiling estimated 12,000 feet broken, high overcast, visibility 12 miles, temperature 34 degrees F., dewpoint 2 degrees F., wind from south-southwest at 5 knots, altimeter setting 30.05, smoky, snow showers of unknown intensity east. Weather conditions were not appreciably different an hour earlier nor an hour later. At 1700, the Salt Lake City Flight Service Station (FSS) received a request from the Salt Lake City Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) to initiate a call to Flight 703 on all available frequencies. There was no reply from Flight 703 to these calls. At 1758 the Salt Lake City FSS received information from the Salt Lake City ARTCC that West Coast Flight 703 was overdue and unreported. On January 18, 1963, at approximately 1140, one body and aircraft debris was seen floating in Great Salt Lake. This floating debris was 10.4 nautical miles to the Salt Lake City Very High Frequency Omni Directional Range (VOR) or the 248 de radial. Early next morning the other two bodies were sighted and all three were recovered from the lake.