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There was no evidence of inflight fire. The survivors who were seated in the aft right portion of the cabin observed the fire initially enter the cabin from under seat 18E (right window seat) and erupt up the inside wall. Time estimates ranged from "immediately" to "one or two seconds after impact."
Two airport crash trucks arrived at the accident site within approximately 3-1/2 minutes. They were positioned on either side of the aircraft tail section where the flames seemed to originate. The fire was essentially contained within the fuselage which materially reduced the effectiveness of the firefighting efforts. The flames persisted, and there was a temporary cessation of firefighting until the water supply could be replenished by additional personnel and equipment from the Salt Lake City Fire Department. These units had been simultaneously notified of the accident and arrived within approximately 10 minutes. The fire was finally brought under control at about 1830.
1.14 Survival Aspects
This was a survivable accident. There were 91 persons aboard the aircraft and 50 were successful in evacuating, although many were severely burned and some sustained injuries during their egress. The remaining 41 occupants were overcome by dense smoke, intense heat, and flames, or a combination of these factors, before they were able to escape. There were no traumatic injuries which would preclude their escape. Two survivors died in the hospital several days after the accident, bringing the total number of fatalities to 43 passengers.
All emergency exits were available and used. The sliding windows in the cockpit were actuated and used by the captain and first officer. The press of passengers crowding in the area of the main loading door hampered the attempts of the stewardess to open it. However, the second officer succeeded in opening it completely, inflating the slide, and then directing the evacuation of passengers through this exit. The galley door, on the right side between rows 8 and 9, and the overwing emergency exit windows on either side at rows 12 and 14 were all opened by passengers. The emergency slide at the galley door was not actuated until a UAL stewardess, who had been riding as a passenger, was able to instruct a man to activate it. Both were outside the aircraft at that time.
When the aircraft came to a complete stop, the stewardess who was occupying the jumpseat on the aft passenger entry door, opened this door to see if the central stairway could be used for egress. However, the-nose high attitude of the aircraft due to the extended nose gear and sheared main gear prevented the stairway from opening more than about six inches. Two men who were seated in the aft cabin area, preceded her into the stairwell. When she attempted to return to another exit the flames and smoke had blocked them off. They huddled as far from the approaching fire as possible, and at the suggestion of the stewardess began pounding on the fuselage and yelling to the firemen outside. The stewardess extended her arm through the narrow opening and succeeded in attracting the attention of firemen outside. A hose was passed into the stairwell and one of the men sprayed the surrounding area. All three persons were successfully rescued from the aircraft through the large hole which had burned through the aft cabin wall on the right side, Although there is no exact timetable for this unprecedented rescue it is estimated that the time envelope from impact to discovery of the survivors was approximately 23 minutes and that the rescue was completed between 25 and 30 minutes after the accident.
