dailynewsnblog
On Monday, 
United Airlines flight 779 landed at 
Denver International Airport (DEN) and stopped on the taxiway to report an unusual phenomenon to the tower. The pilots told air traffic control that during their landing approach, they experienced such powerful interference over the radios that they could barely communicate with each other.
The call was posted online to X by Thenewarea51, which shared the clipped comms thanks to audio from the ATC App. This incident comes just over one year after a slew of jetliners lost ATC over the radio going into DEN. There were 20 airliners that reported dropped comms as long as 90 seconds or more during landing approaches.
UA779 Has A Rough Landing In Denver
In addition to experiencing very intense radio interference, UA779 received a warning from the Traffic Alert Collision Avoidance System that it was unable to detect incoming signals. The loss of ATC comms combined with the TCAS resolution alert means that the Boeing 737 MAX 9 was essentially flying blind for a brief moment. According to Planespotters, the jetliner is registration N67350 and only two years old. That makes an onboard malfunction unlikely but not impossible. Regardless of the cause, the danger to the plane was very real.
There are a number of conspiracy theories circulating about the ‘mile-high’ airport, as DEN is known, which has led to speculation about the cause of these ATC disruptions in the past. The Airport Administration has essentially embraced this pop culture trend, but the ATC issues have been very real and are in the process of being addressed through a multi-billion-dollar overhaul. Originally slated for an infrastructure upgrade over the next 15 years, the 2025 incident spurred an expedited schedule of just three years.
DEN and the Federal Aviation Administration are working together to modernize the radar and telecommunication systems. These are the words from the audio clip of UA779’s aircrew verbatim after touching down in DEN on Monday:
“On approach, we had a severe electrical disturbance in our headsets. It got so loud that we could barely communicate in the cockpit. It was hard to hear ATC, and then we got that [TCAS Resolution Advisory] that we had to contend with as well.”
Keeping Americans Safe In The Air
The incident on Monday highlights the need for this upgrade, as the aging ATC infrastructure at Denver and many airports around the country is slowly becoming a hazard to the safety of flight. The preliminary investigation of the May 12, 2025, ATC disruption revealed a simultaneous infrastructure failure of both the primary and backup radio transmitters at Denver Tower.
The FAA has a policy of investigating all incidents of total communication losses like UA779 experienced. The failure of TCAS adds to the severity of the most recent case because the system de-conflicts airplanes directly and supersedes ATC instructions in emergency situations. The fact that the plane lost both its radio connection to the tower and the ability to safely separate itself from other jetliners in the congested airspace over DEN warrants an official inquiry.
The Folklore Of The Mile High Airport
Many of the conspiracy theories hovering over DEN have been prompted by unusual art selections decorating the airport. The most notorious examples include the towering statue of a ‘demonic horse’ on the grounds or the animatronic gargoyle display that would randomly speak phrases like “welcome to the Illuminati.” Television shows like The Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura have fueled the enduring lore that surrounds Denver’s biggest hub.
The leading theory about DEN is that a massive, top-secret underground bunker city lies beneath its runways. When Denver Center experiences a total simultaneous failure of both primary and backup ground transmitters, conspiracy theorists point to it as proof. The mundane explanation of a wire short simply sounds like a cover-up to the true believers.
With the upcoming data comm improvements for DEN’s tower, hopefully, the disruption to ATC communications will cease for the nearly 1,000 jetliners that fly to and from the mile-high runway every day. Only time will tell if this finally puts to rest the aura of mystery that surrounds the airfield.
