Near Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)

United Flight 585 Memorial

Photographed by Craig Baker, 2017

1. United Flight 585 Memorial Marker

Inscription.
This memorial grove and sitting shelter is dedicated in fond memory of the passengers and air crew of United Airlines #585 which crashed on this site March 3, 1991.

Bonnie Bachman · Dan Birkholz · Andy Bodnar · Mildred Ann Brown · Lisa Church · William Crabb · Clay Crawford · Jo Crawford · Trish Eidson · Robert Geissbuhler, Jr. · Pam Gerdts · Hal Green · Fred Hoffman, II · Herald Holding · Maurice Jenks · Michael Kavanagh · Kevin Kodalen · Andrzej Komor · Anita Lucero · Paula McGilvra · Vincent Riga · Lester Ross · Monica Smiley · Peter van Handel · Takashi Yoshida

Erected by El Paso County Parks.

Topics. This historical marker and memorial is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Disasters. A significant historical date for this entry is March 3, 1991.

Location. 38° 44.177′ N, 104° 42.722′ W. Marker is near Colorado Springs, Colorado, in El Paso County. It is on Drury Lane just south of Fontaine Boulevard, on the right when traveling south. Located in Widefield Community Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1110 Drury Lane, Colorado Springs CO 80911, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker and memorial is in Colorado’s Front Range

and in Pikes Peak Region.

It is also in the American Mountain West.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Rocky Mountains,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Comanchería.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 8 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Fountain Valley Veterans Memorial (approx. 3.2 miles away); Evergreen Cemetery Pioneers Memorial

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(approx. 7 miles away); War Dog Memorial (approx. 7.7 miles away); Buffalo Soldiers Community Memorial (approx. 7.7 miles away); Colorado Springs Veterans Memorial (approx. 7.7 miles away); In Honor of Ft. Carson's Fallen (approx. 7.7 miles away); Marines Memorial (approx. 7.7 miles away); 104th Infantry Division (approx. 7.7 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Colorado Springs.

Regarding United Flight 585 Memorial. United Airlines Flight 585 was a scheduled passenger flight on March 3, 1991 from Denver to Colorado Springs, Colorado, carrying 20 passengers and 5 crew members on board. The plane experienced a rudder hardover while on final approach to runway 35 at Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, causing the plane to roll over and enter an uncontrolled dive. All 25 people onboard were killed. The National Transportation Safety Board was initially unable to understand the cause of the crash.
Another Boeing 737 crash occurred under very similar circumstances when USAir Flight 427 crashed while attempting to land in Pennsylvania in 1994. After the longest investigation in the

United Flight 585 Memorial image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Baker

2. United Flight 585 Memorial

history of the NTSB, it was determined that the probable cause was that the aircraft's rudder malfunctioned and went hard over in a direction opposite to that commanded by the pilots. Another incident (non-fatal) that contributed to the conclusion was that of Eastwind Airlines Flight 517, which had a similar problem upon approach to Richmond on June 9, 1996 (it recovered and landed safely). On March 27, 2001, the NTSB issued a revised final report for Flight 585, which found that the pilots lost control of the airplane because of a mechanical malfunction.
Investigators discovered that the rudder servo valve, which remains dormant and cold for much of the flight at high altitude, seized after being injected with hot hydraulic fluid that had been in continuous action throughout the plane. Boeing agreed to redesign the rudder control system with a redundant backup and paid to retrofit the entire worldwide 737 fleet.
The TV series Mayday dramatized the crash of Flight 585 and the subsequent 737 rudder investigation in a 2007 episode titled Hidden Danger.
- from Wikipedia

Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker. — Another Boeing 737 crash occurred under very similar circumstances when USAir Flight 427 crashed while attempting to land in Pennsylvania three years later.

Also see . . .

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Documentary about this aircraft incident. Mayday: Air Disaster series episode covering the sequence of events and subsequent investigation into the cause of this tragedy. 48 minutes running time.

"Hidden Danger" Season 4, Episode 5 of 'Mayday: Air Disaster' series.

"A Crash Site That Became The Most Mysterious..." is the YouTube title.

(Submitted on July 12, 2023, by Erik Kruse of Bloomington, Minnesota.)

Credits. This page was last revised on August 24, 2024. It was originally submitted on January 29, 2023. This page has been viewed 6,997 times since then and 548 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on January 29, 2023, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California.