Synopsis

Moments before scheduled arrival at Portland International Airport, all four engines of the DC-8 sputtered and died without warning. As the aircraft plummeted, losing altitude at a rate of three thousand feet per minute, the pilots knew a crash landing in the heart of a major American city was their only recourse. Experience the terrifying emergency descent of United Airlines Flight 173 in Portland, Oregon, and reveal the startling cause of its catastrophic engine failure.