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1. INVESTIGATION
1.1 History of Flight
A United Air Lines, Inc., Boeing 727-22, 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[1] on an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight plan at FL 350[2] and estimated their arrival time at O'Hare to be 2127. The crew reported at FL 350 at 2011.35. At 2012 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.
- ↑ All times herein are central daylight time based on the 24-hour clock unless otherwise indicated.
- ↑ Altitudes above 17,000 feet are expressed as flight levels (FL) and reported in three digits i.e., FL 180. Flight levels are derived from a reference datum of 29.92 inches of mercury set in the altimeter as a barometric setting.
