Date: December 8, 1972 Type: Boeing 737-222 Registration: N9031U Operator: United Air Lines Where: Chicago-Midway Airport, Chicago, IL. Report No. NTSB-AAR-73-16 Report Date: August 29, 1973 Pages: 60 A United Air Lines Boeing 737-222 crashed on December 8, 1972, at 1428 c.s.t. while making a nonprecision instrument approach to Runway 31L at the Chicago-Midway Airport, Chicago, Illinois. The accident occurred in a residential area approximately 1.5 miles southeast of the approach end of Runway 31L. The aircraft was destroyed by impact and subsequent fire. A number of houses and other structures in the impact area were also destroyed. There were 55 passengers and 6 crewmembers aboard the aircraft. Forty passengers and three crewmembers were killed. Two persons on the ground also received fatal injuries. The aircraft was observed below the overcast in a nose-high attitude and with the sound of high engine power just before it crashed into structures on the ground. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the captain's failure to exercise positive flight management during the execution of a nonprecision approach, which culminated in a critical deterioration of airspeed into the stall regime where level flight could no longer be maintained.