- Date
- February 10, 1988, 22:48 local (Feb 11, 1988, 04:48 UTC)
- Place
- Chicago, IL
- Injuries
- 206 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N123AADouglas DC-10
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 13985
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
Probable cause
Judgemental error on the part of the local controller for clearing vehicles across the active runway tiwh insufficient separation from arriving aircraft, which was further compromised by a mechanical malfunction in the equipment crossing the runway.
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
At 2245:29 CST, a DC-10 flt crew rprtd at the final apch fix on an ILS rwy 9R apch. The final apch fix was 4.7 mi from the rwy. The DC-10 was cleared to land, then moments later, a snow removal team (working on rwy 32L) requested that four vehicles be cleared to cross rwy 9R. The tower controller provided clearance for the vehicles to cross the active rwy. At 2247:28, the lead man of the group of vehicles reported that they were clear of the rwy. However, when the fourth vehicle was about half way across the rwy, its manual transmission jumped out of gear & the driver had difficulty reengaging it. At 2248:00, the lead man of the vehicles notified the tower of the problem, but by then, the DC-10 was landing. After the DC-10 had touched down & the spoilers were deployed (before the nosewheel was lowered),the flt crew saw the vehicle at the edge of the rwy & the captain took evasive action. He steared the acft around the vehicle, then continued the landing without further incident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N123AA
- Reported as
- Douglas DC-10
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 46523
- Engine
- GE CF6, 51,300 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- American Airlines
- Registered owner
- Wilmington Trust Co., Trustee
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- LAX · Los Angeles, CA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ORD · Chicago O'Hare, runway 9R, 10,140 × 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 46
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 14,446 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 90° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 700 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 19 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ORD, 1 nm away
Other investigations on N123AA · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.