Actually, the two incidents were quite different.

With AA191, the engine started to fall off the pylon before take-off. The engine flew above the wing and then sliced through it.

A few seconds later, the plane hit the ground. Not only was everyone on board killed, most bodies were completely incinerated.

In the case of UA232, a fan disk failed and the debris resulted in hydraulic line damage.

First the damage was not as extreme as AA191, but also the United a/c was at 37,000.

Although the plane was virtually impossible to control, Captain Haynes was able to land at Sioux City. Although 111 people died, 185 survived the accident.

In that respect, the UA incident was obviously far less severe than the AA incident. While there are many differences, one of the main ones was that the AA incident occurred at take-off, meaning the plane is much more vulnerable, with very little altitude, flying barely above its stall speed, and heavy with fuel. Those elements certainly contributed to the magnitude of the tragedy at O'Hare.