Stapleton Int'l Airport - 1992 Microburst? and Windshear Event

Watch as a microburst? occurs at the airport causing some disruption. Windshear alerts continue as aircraft on the approach start going around. A Hawker jet braves the 46 knot gusts and continues the take-off. A DC-10 appears to encounter a slight downdraft on the approach.

[@AaronGrijalva]

Good stuff... a good friend of mine recently passed away that worked in that tower and retired there. I always loved hearing his ATC stories from that airport. This is really neat to see the old Stapleton airport in action. Thank you for sharing this with us.....RIP Jerry Fortner.

[@bobcarter4343]

I witnessed huge windsheer event on the approach to this 26 runway while driving to Stapleton airport on I-I I225. The downburst was so strong that debris was blowing across the highway stopping traffic in both directions and the aircraft on final were all aborting their landings for a go around. The dust was flying in the downdraft of the microburst. Made a believer out of me. 5 minutes later, it simply went away.

[@bobcarter4343]

Landing in Denver can often times be dicey with the mountain waves and up and down drafts. Did it for 22 years. Even landed with a tornado warning just north of DIA that forced our DC10 (from Dulles) to make a huge southern diversion down by the South Platt River where we made a 180 degree turn to a final approaching from the south west.The sky was black just north of the airport. I closed the window and tried to forget about it. Hail damaged my car on the drive home to Littleton. Quite the excitement.

[@nb7466]

I have family there. Iv flown in a few times and your not lying. It can get bumpy. I thought it was the worst in the winter.

[@patton303]

I was on a flight from KLAX to KDEN and it was the most intense mountain wave action I ever experienced. It was during Chinook wind season in early Spring on an A319 I think. I’ve flown that route dozens of times and it’s always bumpy, but this night was terrifying even for a seasoned traveler. We were doing some serious vertical drops at a time and then climbing back up again. People were screaming and overhead bins popped open. The pilot was fighting it all the way down. We landed about 2000ft long before he set it down HARD. My band’s road manager retired the next day. He was already fed up with touring, but that sealed the deal for him.

[@outdoorfuninthesun2393]

@@patton303 what band was you on tour with?

[@patton303]

outdoorfun inthesun A Colorado band called The Samples.

[@maximuskiowa7393]

Much respect! I was just watching a video on the DC10 had some problems over the years in particular united flight#232 I learned about that One that had it's #2 engine come apart & sever all 3 hydraulic lines at once so the capt steered the acft with eng thrust. Im shure you know the rest but wow almost half survived. Freaking amazing crew.

[@johnsonbeckenelly2026]

The old Stapleton was like LV, you can parallel the runway in your car, tune your AM radio, watch & listen

[@jscpaerialartistry1480]

As a kid.... I remember the “no smoking” sign going off, and a cloud of smoke would immediately fill the air.

[@maximuskiowa7393]

I thought it was hilarious that they had a non smoking section back then. How did they think that was possible. 🤣

[@Giggiyygoo]

Yeah, I don't smoke, but to this day the smell of cigarettes brings me back to childhood since so many people smoked back then.

[@styler19721]

238 Ryanair pilots were jealous they didnt get to take off into that windshear

[@patton303]

I loved that airport. Close to downtown and very convenient. When they opened DIA, it was literally in the middle of nowhere and added an hour to your trip. Stapleton was awesome.

[@actontreadway1168]

patton303 it’s just harder to build an lllumnati bunker/intergalactic starport in the middle of a city.

[@patton303]

Acton Treadway Ha! Wasn’t much room for alien craft at old Stapleton.

[@lisadioguardi5742]

The excuse given for moving the airport, that there were homes dealing with the noise around Stapleton and that one day a plane might not make it, was just dumb. Those houses weren't there when the airport was built. That's why they were cheap. And guess what immediately started happening around DIA....

[@Spyke-lz2hl]

4:45 Jetlink callsign, ended up being Expressjet airlines, which is closing at the end of this month, September 2020. After decades of trying to uphold the highest training standards and the best pilot work rules in the regional industry, it finally became too much and the contract with United was cancelled in favor of cheaper, less experienced labor. It’s too bad that the entire company was slowly picked apart when a competitor bought it, merged it, and then hamstrung it with delays in decisions, and excessive IT charges, whilst undermining any ability the company had to bid on more flying by taking the awarded flying for themselves. Then spinning off the remaining shell in a sale to United, and taking their now monopolized regional flying for themselves, and their sheepish workforce. It’s only a race to the bottom if everyone who’s not at the top won’t try to get there.

[@One_Shot_Garage]

Its a damn shame. I got my start as an A&P at Expressjet and there are a lot of great people who worked there that are now on the street and having to start over.

[@Spyke-lz2hl]

ACMX _ 92 Yeah, I was just reflecting on my career there. It was great. Great people, super high quality operation. I remember we had so many days every month back then without an MEL fleetwide! Not one MEL on any aircraft. You can’t get any more high quality and serious about Mx and safety than that. That was years ago, look where it gets you when you try to operate that way in the regional airline world.

[@nuclearrabbit1]

That's some crazy shear by today's standards. We'd just add the wind shear onto the Ref speed back then. LOL. The Delta tragedy taught us a lot.

[@spurgear4]

Makes me miss the old days.

[@TheLegendarySuperSaiyanBroly]

Truly.

[@Flying4Film]

Nice to see those UA birds in the old colors.

[@davidconlin32]

i liked that livery better than the current livery for UA

[@JG-dx5wi]

@@davidconlin32 Yeah the new one stinks

[@ColinYapp]

I prefer the new livery because it reminds me of Continental, an airline far and away better than United. United is fortunate to have linked up with the best.

[@williamscott3444]

@@ColinYapp I agree..former Continental ramp agent here..was glad to retire a few years after UA/CO merger. Going from a streamlined efficient operation at CO to UA's hapless quagmire was draining.

[@skipcampbell4226]

Stapleton was an extremely busy airport for it's size. United and Continental had big hubs there. It was convenient for both because of it's location.

[@superskullmaster]

Love this old footage.

[@milehighkit4725]

I really miss that old airport. This coming from a multigenerational Denver native. Dad had a little different opinion on this being a 30 year United pilot :-) RIP, dad.

[@darringraham2613]

Back then we still had comfortable seats and plenty of legroom

[@raoulcruz4404]

I just rode on an Airbus 321. I wish I could show you a picture of the cattle seats. They were slightly more comfortable than a lawn chair.

[@0ki7o]

Comfortable seats, plenty of legroom, and tobacco smoke

[@gerardmoran9560]

Corrected for inflation, you can still have leg room. First class now for the price of coach ten.

[@bluehorseshoe9216]

wow that hawker pilot was crazy to take off in that

[@TheLegendarySuperSaiyanBroly]

You kids are something else. This was content back then.

[@solidlift]

I used to watch from that very spot in 1992. I was stationed at Lowry during the time.

[@masterofdrive]

Why the heck does this have almost equal dislikes and likes? This is an amazing video!

[@keenbug]

Thanks! I suspect that some people perhaps misunderstand the title, thinking this is some crash footage, or could be disappointed in standard def. I've pondered the reason also, but stand by the title as accurate. Thanks for watching!

[@MyEyesBled]

Vic Planespotting

[@sophievanderbilt1325]

@@keenbug I think some subtitles explaining what was going on would have been helpful for those of us who don’t know much about aviation. I watched the whole video and I have no idea what I was supposed to be looking for. It just sounded like guys talking on a radio and planes taking off.

[@jerryhenson3916]

I miss Stapleton.

[@YelpBullhorn]

Should be renamed "Six boring minutes of gloom at an airport."

[@Gord1812]

Exactly!

[@TheLegendarySuperSaiyanBroly]

You kids are something else. This was content back then.

[@tlakshman3361]

Do me a favour then, change the video and don’t waste anybody else’s time.

[@ericlozen9631]

I currently live in Michigan but going way back to 1991 I lived in Lakewood Colorado. I was visiting Colorado Springs for a weekend and ironically I was there on the day of March 3,1991 when UAL's flight 575 crashed. I'll never forget that day.

[@ericlozen9631]

@Ethan Patrick Tan United

[@ericlozen9631]

@Ethan Patrick Tan No, I wasn't on the flight. There were no survivors. The 737 impacted the ground at more than 200 MPH and fully nose down. The impact crater was deep and narrow. Because of that there wasn't an out of control fire that lasted long. It was pretty much "snuffed out" but residually there was a lot of black smoke. The only good thing that can be said about this crash is that there were many vacant seats.

[@skipcampbell4226]

I remember that. The 737 rudder stuck completely to the left or right I can't remember. The 737 300s had only been used for like 4 years or so. At that point I think SWA which I work for. Had quite a few. We were worried they would be grounded. Didn't happen though.

[@LMays-cu2hp]

Life was cool back then.

[@LMays-cu2hp]

It is nice seeing the previous paint color from our airline.

[@TheLegendarySuperSaiyanBroly]

It sure was!

[@LMays-cu2hp]

@@TheLegendarySuperSaiyanBroly Thank you I was always traveling back then in the early 1990s.

[@timbacchus]

The tower acted like it was funny there was a tornado warning.

[@weefishy9129]

I miss that old airport.

[@dorsetdumpling5387]

“Airspeed 120....groundspeed.....aah...groundspeed?.....where’s our frikkin’ groundspeed?

[@AJ67901]

this brings back memories. Back in the day you could drive westbound down Colfax and see the planes stacked up on final, all with their landing lights on. I don't know if there's even a trace of the old airport left. I heard they tore it up and built apartments where it was.

[@milehighkit4725]

The only thing remaining is the tower.

[@davef.2811]

Is United's training academy still there? Was there in 98-99.

[@keenbug]

Yes they still train there.

[@generalzod7959]

80% of the time, i can't understand what they're saying on the radio. It sounds so garbled and they speak so fast like an auctioneer.

[@reinerzufall978]

So where is the Microburst?

[@keenbug]

at 0:52

[@Hibbie2963]

Curious why they are taking off from 26 with wind @330 20/28. Why weren't they taking off from 35 with wind like that?

[@iVenge]

it should still be called stapleton

[@mootpoint7053]

Good lord airplanes were fugly back then

[@twizzyrich3433]

People before issac newton invented gravity:

[@Spyke-lz2hl]

Did the DC 10 ever land?

[@charleyharper4298]

“Gust 38”. Cheez

[@heyeveryoneimcool]

Gusting to 46knots lol

[@raoulcruz4404]

The hel e cop ter pi lot cal ing in was fun eee.

[@tomdick693]

i hate flying in colorado. every airport sucks, the weather is always hot, cold, windy, windshear, snowing, raining or some other form of crap.

[@davidca96]

bank angle, bank angle

[@aurktman1106]

I much preferred Stapleton, DIA is no improvement.

[@Gemin6788]

2020 pilots wind shear

[@terrycarlton6991]

Perhaps because I didn’t see any evidence of a microburst

[@keenbug]

:53

[@JMMT7022801]

Denver's the worst place to fly in and out of. I'm not a very big fan of DIA.

[@casimirstanley1625]

That isn't DIA, That's Stapleton International Airport (SIA)

[@kindjordan]

One of the coolest airports

[@JMMT7022801]

+kindjordan ATL, TPA, SEA, PDX, and ORD are infinitely cooler.

[@JMMT7022801]

+Casimir Gore But I never said anything about Stapleton.

[@InterflatironAirways]

It was actually rated USA's best airport several times.

[@mikedonato7719]

That God toy play airplane

[@darrelcantor4865]

Ha i dont see any microburst

[@spindrifter3395]

I'd like that 6 minutes of my life back

[@virginiaconnor8350]

Cut out the political ad and I'll be happier watching this.

[@alexandersheppard1997]

Disliked. No microburst here.

[@valleywe]

Bullshit.

[@geronimotudor3386]

Skip this-awful!

[@36w3s.talbot4]

why does this have remarkable dislikes, I think the pimple popper has more turbulence then what this video shows. If you want to watch aircraft land and take off, go to the airport and watch in real life. Does it need to be posted and clickbait Microburst? NO.

[@patwest1815]

Boring.

[@irrelevantwaffles]

Who the hell just video tapes random airplanes taking off? especially in 1992?

[@FerSFumero]

My classmates did that but in 2002

[@grouchyfluff]

I dont think this is random. Judging by the fact that he is listening to the ATC, he probably knows there is an abnormal weather phenomenon and wants to see if he can catch any anomalies occurring as aircraft arrive and depart the airport.

[@vincentstruckstrainsplanes34]

its called having a hobby, so you can go ahead, and fuck off

[@jjcmontana]

Al Qaeda?

[@chrisstromberg6527]

Some people spend their time recording videos of aircraft, others spend their time putting down others on you tube comment sections. I guess to each his own!?