- Date
- October 29, 1987, 15:47 local (21:47 UTC)
- Place
- Chicago, IL
- Injuries
- 147 uninjured
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 10, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- Case key
- 13981
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The south rwys (32L, 9R, & 4R) were being ctld by the south LCL ctlr (slc) & the north rwys (9L & 4L) were ctld by the north LCL ctlr (nlc). At 1543:26, slc told united flt 973 (Boeing 737) to hold on 32L & expect a 3 min delay bfr tkof. Air Wisconsin flt 954 (fokker F27) had bgn a visual apch to 9R. At 1545:23, after coordg with nlc, slc clrd the F27 to circle (side step) for a lndg on rwy 9L & chg freq to nlc. The final apch path (extd ctrln of 9L) crossed ovr rwy 32L. At 1546:53, slc clrd the 737 to tkof. At aprx V1 (133 KTS), the 737 plts saw the F27 converging, as it was abt to cross their intended tkof path. The F27 crew did not see the 737. The 737 capt did not think he could safely cross under the F27 or abort the tkof. He elected to avoid the F27 by clbg over the otr acft rather than passing under it. After this incident, the twr procedure was chgd so that no tkof clnc would be issued to a depg flt on rwy 32L until arriving acft, clrd to lnd on rwy 9L, had reached the threshold of that rwy.
Aircraft · 2
- Registration
- N305UA
- Reported as
- Boeing 737-322
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 23666
- Engine
- GE CFM56-3, 20,000 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Registered owner
- United Airlines
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- ORD
- Destination
- OMA · Omaha, NE
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ORD · Chicago O'Hare, runway 32L, 13,000 × 200 ft, concrete
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
- Registration
- N511AW
- Reported as
- Fokker F27-500
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 10690
- Engine
- Rolls-Royce DART 536, 2,100 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Registered owner
- Air Wisconsin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MKE · Milwaukee, WI
- Destination
- ORD
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ORD · Chicago O'Hare, runway 9L, 7,416 × 150 ft, concrete
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot, aircraft N305UA
- Age
- 49
- Certificates
- Flight engineer, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 15,000 total · 10,000 in this make and model
- Role
- Pilot, aircraft N511AW
- Age
- 36
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 10,000 total · 2,500 in this make and model · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ORD
Other investigations on N305UA · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.