What was the name of the 1989 stock-market crash in the United States caused by the leveraged buyout collapse of United Airlines?

The 1989 United Airlines leveraged-buyout collapse was called the Friday the 13th mini-crash.

On Friday, October 13, 1989, investors learned that a proposed $6.75 billion leveraged buyout of United Airlines had fallen apart. The deal had been backed by an employee group and financed through Michael Milken's Drexel Burnham Lambert, whose junk-bond business was already under intense pressure. The news helped trigger a sharp sell-off late in the trading day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 190.58 points, or about 6.9%, in the session. The decline was much smaller than the 1987 Black Monday collapse, so financial writers commonly used the word “mini-crash.” The event also reflected broader anxiety about leveraged finance, takeover activity, and the health of the high-yield bond market.

The crash is often confused with other Friday-the-13th market declines or with the 1987 crash. Its specific name identifies both the date and its relatively limited scale, while the failed United Airlines transaction was the immediate headline catalyst.