- Date
- January 18, 1991, 12:40 local (18:40 UTC)
- Place
- Chicago, IL
- Injuries
- 39 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Pushback/towing
- Aircraft
- N608AWBritish Aerospace 146-200
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910118058059I
- Case key
- 14926
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
Company procedures and directives not being followed by ground personnel. A factor associated with the accident is complacency by company/operator management.
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 incident transport airplane collided with another parked transport airplane while taxiing away from a gate at the start of a revenue flight. Both airplanes sustained minor damage. The pilot stopped the airplane and shut it down. The passengers and crew deplaned using the normal cabin exits. The investigation revealed that signalmen and wingwalkers were routinely ground guiding aircraft at that parking location to a parking spot that was displaced to the left of the painted taxi guide stripes. This practice allowes the tail of a departing airplane to transcribe an arc which passes through an adjacent dedicated parking space as it turnes away from the gate. When this space is occupied by a longer airplane there is insufficient clearance to allow the tail surfaces of the two aircraft to clear each other. According to ramp personnel an emergency stop hand signal was issued by the wingwalker but was not recognized in time to stop the incident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N608AW
- Reported as
- British Aerospace 146-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- E-2049
- Engine
- Lycoming ALF 502, 6,970 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Air Wisconsin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Destination
- GRB · Green Bay, WI
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ORD · O'Hare Field
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 46
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 22,500 total · 4,800 in this make and model · 21,000 as pilot in command · 225 in the last 90 days · 75 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.