DOWNTOWN PORTLAND, THIS IS KOIN
6 NEWS, WATCHING OUT FOR YOU.
JEFF:
REMEMBERING A DEADLY PLANE
CRASH IN THE MIDDLE OF EAST
BURNSIDE.
DECEMBER MARKS THE 40TH
ANNIVERSARY OF ONE OF THE MOST
SIGNIFICANT PLANE COMMERCIAL
AIRLINE CRASHES IN MODERN
AVIATION HISTORY.
AND IT'S ALMOST A FORGOTTEN
MEMORY NOW.
JENNIFER: BUT AS KEN BODDIE
EXPLAINS IN THIS SPECIAL REPORT,
WHAT YOU MAY NOT REALIZE IS HOW
MUCH SAFER YOU ARE TODAY BECAUSE
OF WHAT HAPPENED THAT FATEFUL
NIGHT.
UNITED 173, MAYDAY, MAYDAY.
ONE OF THE ENGINES IS FLAMING
OUT.
WE'RE GOING DOWN.
WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO
MAKE THE AIRPORT.
KEN: DECEMBER 28, 1978.
UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 173,
FLYING FROM DENVER TO PORTLAND,
FALLS FROM THE SKY AND CRASHES
INTO AN EAST PORTLAND
NEIGHBORHOOD.
189 PEOPLE WERE ON BOARD THAT
NIGHT.
TWO CREW MEMBERS AND EIGHT
PASSENGERS WERE KILLED.
SEVERAL MORE HAD SERIOUS
INJURIES.
ONE OF THOSE SURVIVORS WAS THE
CAPTAIN, MALBURN MCBROOM.
THEY WERE SO FOCUSED ON THE
LANDING GEAR THAT WASN'T LOCKED.
EACH OF THEM WERE FOCUSED ON IT
THAT THEY WEREN'T PAYING
ATTENTION TO THE FUEL.
KEN: AN INVESTIGATION WOULD
ULTIMATELY SHOW THAT THE PLANE'S
ENGINES FLAMED OUT, FORCING THE
CRASH LANDING.
ANOTHER SURVIVOR, AIMEE FORD
CONNER, WAS ONLY 17-YEARS-OLD AT
THE TIME OF THE CRASH.
20 YEARS LATER, SHE ORGANIZED A
GET-TOGETHER FOR SURVIVORS AND
THEIR FAMILIES, AND SHE ASKED
THE CAPTAIN TO BE THERE.
IT WAS A BLOODY DAMN
TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE FOR ALL OF
US.
AND IF I CAN ASSIST IN THAT JUST
BY BEING HERE AND TALKING TO
SOME FOLKS, YOU BET.
THE MAN WHO CAME TO THE
REUNION WAS VERY BROKEN AND HE
WAS SO BRAVE.
HE WAS SO BRAVE TO SHOW UP THAT
NIGHT.
KEN: SHE SAYS HE MADE THE BEST
DECISION HE COULD AND THE
EMERGENCY PROTOCOL WAS FLAWED.
MCBROOM HAS SINCE DIED, AND
AIMEE WISHES HE KNEW HOW MUCH
THINGS HAVE CHANGED SINCE THE
NIGHT OF THE CRASH.
I DON'T THINK HE DID ANYTHING
WRONG.
I DON'T THINK HE DID.
AND THE MORE I KNOW ABOUT ABOUT
IT THE MORE I'M CONVINCED OF IT,
I JUST WISH HE WERE HERE TO HEAR
IT.
KEN: THAT CRASH HAPPENED HERE AT
EAST BURNSIDE AND 157TH.
THE NEIGHBORHOOD IS NOW FILLED
WITH HOMES AND MAX LINES.
THE ONLY THING THAT REMAINS OF
THAT NIGHT IS AN EMPTY LOT, AND
THE MEMORIES FROM SURVIVORS.
BUT BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED
HERE 40 YEARS AGO, YOU'RE SAFER
ON A PLANE TODAY.
THIS CRASH THAT HAPPENED HERE
IN PORTLAND REALLY DID CHANGE
THE AVIATION INDUSTRY.
KEN: JULIE WHIPPLE IS THE AUTHOR
OF CRASH COURSE, WHICH EXAMINES
THE EVENTS THAT LED UP TO THAT
DECEMBER NIGHT.
SHE AGREES THAT CAPTAIN MCBROOM
SHOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN ALL THE
BLAME.
HE WAS CAUGHT IN THE MOMENT
OF AN EMERGENCY.
HE DID NOT KNOW WHAT HIS LANDING
GEAR WAS GOING TO DO WHEN HE PUT
THAT PLANE ON THE GROUND.
HE WAS VERY CONCERNED VEER INTO
RIVER OR INTO THE TERMINAL.
AND HE JUST MADE A MISTAKE, IT
WAS AN ERROR.
KEN: AN ERROR THAT WHIPPLE
ATTRIBUTES TO THE ENTIRE AIRLINE
INDUSTRY AT THE TIME.
THEY DID NOT HAVE PROTOCOLS
IN PLACE WITH REST OF THE CREW
TO SPEAK UP, FORCEFULLY ENOUGH.
AND THEY DIDN'T.
THEY MADE COMMENTS LIKE THIS IS
AND UNSAFE SITUATION.
WE NEED TO GET THIS PLANE ON THE
GROUND.
KEN: FOLLOWING THE CRASH OF
FLIGHT 173, EXPERTS TOOK A
CLOSER LOOK AT AVIATION SAFETY.
THEY IMPLEMENTED WHAT'S CALLED
CREW RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, WHICH
HELPS A TEAM WORK TOGETHER WHEN
A PROBLEM ARISES.
IT'S NOW A PRACTICE USED IN
INDUSTRIES AROUND THE WORLD.
IT REALLY DID CHANGE THE WAY
WE OPERATE IN A CRISIS OR IN A
HIGH RISK SITUATION.
KEN: 2017 WAS THE SAFEST YEAR IN
AVIATION HISTORY, AND EXPERTS
SAY IT'S BECAUSE OF THE LESSONS
LEARNED FROM PORTLAND THAT COLD
DECEMBER NIGHT.
IT'S PRETTY AMAZING AND I
THINK PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND
WHAT KIND OF AN IMPACT 173 HAS
HAD ON SAFETY.
KEN: SOMETHING THAT SURVIVORS
LIKE AIMEE FORD CONNER ARE
ETERNALLY GRATEFUL FOR.
YOU CAN TURN A TRAGEDY INTO
SOMETHING GOOD.
YOU CAN DO THAT.
KEN: KEN BODDIE, KOIN 6 NEWS.
JEFF: WE HAVE REACHED OUT TO
UNITED AIRLINES FOR COMMENT ON
THE LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE
DEADLY CRASH.
SO FAR, WE HAVEN'T HEARD BACK.
JENNIFER: MEANWHILE, AIMEE FORD
CONNER IS ORGANIZING A REUNION
FOR THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
CRASH.
AND HER HOPE IS THAT IT WILL
BRING SURVIVORS TOGETHER AND
CONTINUE THE HEALING PROCESS.
YOU WILL FIND SO MUCH MORE ON
THIS STORY ON KOIN.COM,
INCLUDING VIDEO FROM OUR
ARCHIVES THROUGH THE PAST 40
YEARS, THE FULL CRASH
INVESTIGATION REPORT AND A LINK