The United Airlines Boeing 767 emergency slide falls into a backyard as a flight from Switzerland lands at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport
- Resident Patrick Devitt was at home on the city’s northwest side when the silver slide crashed into the side of his home and landed in his backyard.
- After the plane landed, O’Hare workers realized that one of their evacuation slides was missing.
- The FAA is currently investigating the case.
Chicago residents heard a loud crash after an emergency slide fell from a United Airlines Boeing 767 into a man’s backyard as the plane was landing at O’Hare Airport.
Patrick Devitt was driving home on North Chester Avenue on the city’s northwest side when he said his son and father-in-law, who were home at the time, “heard a loud crash on the side of the house” around Monday morning. noon.
Devitt said the couple didn’t initially think much of the noise until his father-in-law came outside and discovered the crumpled silver slide in the yard.
Neither man could immediately identify what the slide was other than “obviously something that shouldn’t be there” and called 911 after noticing the fuel caps on the sides of the object.
Fortunately, no one was hurt when the slide fell from the plane, which was arriving from Switzerland. The FAA is now handling the investigation.
Law enforcement officers were on the scene Monday afternoon when an emergency slide fell from a plane and landed in a backyard on Chicago’s North Side.
A map shows the proximity of the backyard where the missing slide was found in relation to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, where the United flight that dropped the slide landed safely.
A fully inflated emergency plane is shown deployed from the side of an aircraft.
Investigators and members of the Chicago Police Department inspect the slide found in a local yard.
Patrick said the Chicago Police Department “was great, they were here right away” and that other units joined them soon after. The slide was finally cleared around 3:45 p.m.
Devitt said his home sustained “light damage” but “nothing too crazy” in the bizarre incident.
Maintenance workers at Chicago O’Hare discovered an emergency evacuation slide was missing from a United Airlines Boeing 767 that had just landed without incident after flying from Europe.
United said the Boeing in question was manned by 10 crew members and had 155 customers on board.
“We immediately contacted the FAA and are working with our team to better understand the circumstances surrounding this matter,” United added in a statement.
The slide has now been removed from the yard.
