Emergency Slide Falls From United Airlines Aircraft Near O'Hare

On July 17, an emergency slide fell from a United Airlines Boeing 767 aircraft into a backyard near Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD). The debris landed in the 4700 block of North Chester Avenue in the O'Hare neighborhood in northwest Chicago around 12:15 p.m. Central Time (CT). When the Boeing 767 safely landed at the airport, maintenance workers noticed the aircraft missed an emergency evacuation slide. This is according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

No injuries were reported in the incident. Patrick Devitt, a homeowner in the neighborhood who discovered the debris, said the slide fell onto his house. The slide damaged the house's roof, downspout, and window screen. Although Devitt was not home at the time, his two-year-old son and father-in-law were there when they heard a loud "boom" while having lunch in the kitchen. The father-in-law informed his son-in-law about the slide after seeing it outside. 

One of the residents dragged the slide to the front yard and informed authorities about the incident. The FAA and United Airlines sent representatives to the house to provide further information about the incident. The FAA said maintenance crews at O'Hare discovered a missing slide, and that the one in Devitt's front yard matches what they wanted. The slide was later retrieved by two United Airlines representatives.

Devitt said the following about the incident to ABC7 Chicago: "When it's all stretched out, like, it's a little jumbled up. I'm sure, in the picture, from when we dragged it out, it's larger than a small car. It's a very, very big piece of equipment that fell."

Devitt later told CBS 2 News Chicago: "So it hit right there on the downspout and came straight down. Landed right here in the garden, smashed all these plants - stuff like that. A couple of inches, you know, further to the east, and it would have landed right on the house. So we're very lucky."

Finally, Devitt provided details about his discussion with the authorities. He said: “The lady that we spoke to at the Department of Aviation had said to us, 'Well how do you know it's from an airplane?'. Well, because there's a giant slide in our backyard that's bigger than a car, ma'am. Of course, it's from an airplane.”

The FAA and United Airlines are currently investigating how the slide fell off. The flight crew was unaware that the slide fell off until the aircraft landed. The flight departed from Zurich Airport (ZRH) at 9:50 a.m. Central European Time (CET) and landed in Chicago at 12:35 p.m. CT with flight number UA 12. Flights between Zurich and Chicago are offered daily by United Airlines and Swiss International Airlines (SWISS). There were 155 people and ten crew members on this flight.

United flight UA 12 generally arrives in Chicago at 12:45 p.m. CT, meaning that the flight on July 17 landed ten minutes early. SWISS flight LX 6 leaves Zurich at 9:50 a.m. CET while flight LX 8 departs at 1:20 p.m. CET. Flights LX 6 and LX 8 arrive in Chicago at 12:35 p.m. and 4:05 p.m. CT, respectively. The SWISS flights are 9 hours and 45 minutes while the United flight is 9 hours and 55 minutes.

Boeing 767 aircraft losing their slides is rare. The last events occurred near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) in 2016 and 2019, respectively.