What happened
On December 18, 1977, at approximately 01:38 m.s.t., a DC-8F-54 cargo aircraft, operating as United Airlines Flight 2860, struck a mountain in the Wasatch Range near Kaysville, Utah. The flight was conducting an approach to Salt Lake City Airport when it experienced malfunctions within its electrical system. Following these technical issues, the crew requested and received a holding clearance from the approach controller.
The flight crew then requested permission to temporarily depart the approach control frequency to contact company maintenance personnel. After being away from the frequency for 7.5 minutes, the aircraft entered an area containing dangerous terrain. Upon returning to the frequency, the controller alerted the crew that they were too close to terrain on their right and instructed a left turn. Shortly after initiating this turn, the controller issued an immediate climb command to 8,000 feet. The crew reported they were climbing from 6,000 feet, but approximately 15 seconds later, the DC-8F-54 impacted a 7,665-foot mountain at an elevation of roughly 7,200 feet. The impact resulted in the destruction of the aircraft and 3 fatalities, with no survivors among the three crew members.
Findings
Investigations into the accident identified several contributing factors. A primary factor was the issuance of an ambiguous and incomplete holding clearance by the approach controller, which was subsequently accepted by the flight crew. This was compounded by the crew's failure to follow established procedures for when communications are impaired, as well as a lack of strict adherence to standard holding patterns. These errors were attributed to long-standing habits of imprecise communication and procedural non-compliance within the radar environment. Additionally, the failure of the aircraft's No.1 electrical system played a role in the sequence of events leading to the crash.