Which 1989 U.S. leveraged-buyout failure helped trigger the October 13 stock-market crash?

The failed United Airlines buyout helped trigger the October 13, 1989, U.S. stock-market crash.

On that day, investors learned that a leveraged buyout proposal for United Airlines had collapsed. The deal had been backed by an employee group and depended on substantial borrowing. When the proposed transaction failed, markets interpreted it as evidence that highly leveraged acquisitions and the financing behind them were becoming harder to complete.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 190.58 points, or about 6.9%, on October 13, 1989. The decline is often called the Friday the 13th mini-crash. It is distinct from Black Monday in 1987 and from the October 1989 event sometimes described more generally as a crash caused by a failed leveraged buyout. The United Airlines deal was not the RJR Nabisco transaction, whose famous buyout had been completed in 1989 and is frequently mentioned in discussions of leveraged buyouts.