Boeing 707-323B incident near Salt Lake City, Utah, January 22, 1989
On January 22, 1989 at about 4:49 pm local time, a Boeing 707-323B, registered N712PC, suffered minor damage in an incident near Salt Lake City, Utah (Salt Lake City airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 194 people were on board or involved. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S ATTEMPT TO ALIGN THE AIRPLANE WITH THE RUNWAY AT AN ALTITUDE INSUFFICIENT FOR SAFE MANEUVERING, RESULTING IN THE NO. 1 ENGINE STRIKING THE RUNWAY. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS INCLUDE OBSCURED VISIBILITY DUE TO FOG, THE CAPTAIN'S LOSS OF DEPTH PERCEPTION, AND PILOT FATIGUE DUE TO DISRUPTED CIRCADIAN RHYTHM.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 22, 1989 · about 4:49 pm local time
- Place
- Salt Lake City, Utah · Salt Lake City · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 194 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 707-323B · all 707-323Bs on the register
- Registration
- N712PC · registry record · serial 20176
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
PLT WAS EXECUTING CATEGORY I ILS APCH TO RWY 34L AFTER FLYING FROM HON TO SLC. PLT SAID HE 'CAME OFF GAUGES' AT 300 FT AGL EXPECTING TO SEE RWY BUT DIDN'T. AT 200 FT AGL, HE SAW RWY 150 FT TO LEFT BUT LOST ALL DEPTH PERCEPTION. PLT CONSIDERED EXECUTING MISSED APCH BUT FELT HE COULD ALIGN ACFT WITH RWY WITH ALT REMAINING. WHILE MANEUVERING, NO. 1 ENG STRUCK RWY, LEAVING 50-60 FT LONG, 1-INCH DEEP GOUGE. IN PREVIOUS 30 HR PERIOD, PLT HAD BEEN ON DUTY 18 HRS, 30 MIN, AND HAD FLOWN 13 HRS, 25 MIN. HE HAD BEEN OFF DUTY 11 HRS, 24 MIN, BUT HAD SLEPT ONLY 1 HR.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 16,800 hours in all; 4,390 in this make and model; 9,600 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 45,804 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, January 29, 1989; 29 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 322,300 lb
- Seats: 194
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W JT3D-38 (turbofan); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: HNL Honolulu HI at 10:15 am
- Destination: SLC
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 34L, 12,003 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 350° at 6 knots
- Sky: overcast at 25,000 ft; scat at 10,000 ft
- Temperature: 23°F (-5°C), dew point 21°F (-6°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 4:51 pm from SLC
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 7 | |||
| Passengers | 187 |
Other NTSB records under N712PC the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number DEN89IA067.