In May 1984, a United Airlines 727 ran into a microburst as it took off from Stapleton in Denver Colorado. It struck a radar antenna beyond the end of the runway, but it was able to circle and land with no injuries to the passengers or crew. Spurred by this near disaster, the FAA funded CLAWS (Classify, Locate, and Avoid Wind Shear), led by NCAR's John McCarthy. The goal was to develop a prototype system for forecasting microbursts and other wind-shear events and for providing timely advisory information to pilots. Here McCarthy is seen working in the control tower at Stapleton during CLAWS in the summer of 1984.
