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The Tragic and Mysterious United Flight 553 Incident

The history of aviation is filled with remarkable stories, but among them lies the tragic incident of United Flight 553, which quickly became a source of conspiracy theories and political controversy in the United States.

The Flight

On December 8, 1972, United Flight 553 was preparing to take off from Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., en route to Omaha, Nebraska, with a continuation to Chicago, Illinois. The aircraft was a Boeing 737-200, specifically tail number November 9031 Uniform, and was piloted by an experienced crew. Captain Wendell L. Whit Halls had been with United Airlines since 1956 and had logged over 2,400 hours on the 737, while First Officer Walter O. Cobble had accumulated more than 1,650 hours.