United Airlines Flight 859 was a Douglas DC-8, registration N8040U[1], on a scheduled passenger flight that crashed on landing at Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado after departing from Omaha, Nebraska's Eppley Airfield on July 11, 1961.

The crash was caused by the failure of the two port engines to generate reverse thrust, which sent the aircraft off the runway.

All tires blew out on the right main landing gear, after which the plane left the runway and hit a taxiway still under construction.

The nose gear collapsed, and the airplane then slammed into several airport vehicles, including construction equipment.

This ruptured a fuel tank on the right wing and caught fire, killing 18 (including one on the ground) and injuring 84 out of a total of 122 people aboard.