- Date
- February 19, 1988, 12:07 local (18:07 UTC)
- Place
- Chicago, IL
- Injuries
- 297 uninjured
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 18, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA reports
- 19880219071531I19880219071532I
- Case key
- 13986
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
Failure of the tower cab supervisor to assure that coordination between the south local controller and north local controller had been completed. A factor is the failure of FAA tower management to insure there were personnel manning the cab coordinator position.
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
Northwest flt 3 (Boeing 747, N635US) was clrd to takeoff on rwy 14R at the same time air Wisconsin flt 925 (bae 146, N602AW) was clrd to takeoff on rwy 22L at the Chicago-o'hare intl arpt. Subsequently, the two acft passed with an estimated 3000 to 4000 ft separation. This occurred after the tower supervisor had not assured coordination between the north & south local control positions. At the time of the operational error, the tower supervisor was acting as both the supervisor & the tower cab coordinator.
Northwest flt 3 (Boeing 747, N635US) was clrd to takeoff on rwy 14R at the same time air Wisconsin flt 925 (bae 146, N602AW) was clrd to takeoff on rwy 22L at the Chicago-o'hare intl arpt. Subsequently, the two acft passed with an estimated 3000 to 4000 ft separation. This occurred after the tower supervisor had not assured coordination between the north & south local control positions. At the time of the operational error, the tower supervisor was acting as both the supervisor & the tower cab coordinator.
Aircraft · 2
- Registration
- N635US
- Reported as
- Boeing 747-227B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21682
- Engine
- P&W JT9D, 54,750 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Registered owner
- Northwest Airlines
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Destination
- Tokyo, Japan
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ORD · Chicago-O'Hare Intl, runway 14R, 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
- N602AW
- Reported as
- British Aerospace BAE 146-200 (BAE 146-20)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- E2014
- Engine
- Lycoming ALF-502R, 6,970 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Registered owner
- Air Wisconsin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Destination
- ATW · Appleton, WI
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ORD · Chicago-O'Hare Intl, runway 22L, 8,071 × 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 N635US
- Age
- 53
- Certificates
- Flight engineer, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 14,250 total
- Role
- Pilot, aircraft N602AW
- Age
- 46
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 9,500 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,300 ft broken
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ORD
FAA reports on this event · 2
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.