United Airlines Emergency Evacuation Slide Detaches from Plane and Lands in Chicago Neighborhood

A United Airlines flight from Zurich, Switzerland to Chicago, Illinois landed safely on Monday, but with one piece of equipment missing: an emergency evacuation slide. The slide fell from the Boeing 767-300ER plane and landed in the backyard of a home near Chicago O’Hare International Airport, causing some damage to the property.

According to our sources, United’s Boeing 767-300ER planes are between 29 and 33 years old, with an average age of 26.6 years. They are the oldest planes in United’s fleet, which has an average age of 16.5 years. United has 37 Boeing 767-300ER planes in service and 3 parked.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), maintenance workers at O’Hare discovered that the plane was missing its slide after it landed. The FAA is investigating the incident and how the slide became detached from the aircraft.

The homeowners, Laura and Patrick Devitt, told local media that they heard a loud boom on July 17, 2023 around 12:15 p.m. CT and found the deflated slide in their backyard. They said the slide damaged their roof, downspout and a window screen. They also said the slide was larger than a small car when stretched out.

The Devitts dragged the slide to their front yard and called 911. Chicago police and FAA officials arrived at the scene shortly after. No one was injured by the falling slide.

This is not the first time that an emergency slide has fallen from a plane. In 2019, a slide fell off a Delta flight landing at Boston’s Logan International Airport and landed in a residential area. There were no injuries in that case either.

United Airlines said in a statement that they contacted the FAA immediately and are working to understand the circumstances around the matter.

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, usatoday.com, news.yahoo.com, msn.com, cnn.com