- Date
- December 3, 2018, 10:35 local (16:35 UTC)
- Place
- Chicago, IL
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 146 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N868NNBoeing 737
- Defining event
- Taxi-to runway: Cabin safety event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Case key
- 98739
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
an object which fell from an overhead bin struck a flight attendant resulting in a serious injury.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
On December 3, 2018, about 10:35 central standard time, American Airlines flight 114, a Boeing 737-800, N868NN, was taxiing from the gate at Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Chicago, Illinois, when a flight attendant was injured when an object fell onto from an overhead bin. The remaining passengers and crew were not injured, and the airplane was not damaged. The regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight was operating under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 from ORD, to LaGuardia Airport (LGA), East Elmhurst, New York. According to the operator, while taxiing for takeoff, a flight attendant opened an overhead bin, and a laptop fell out, striking her in the eye and forcing her left eye out of the socket. The flight returned to the gate and the flight attendant was transported to a hospital.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N868NN
- Reported as
- Boeing 737 (823)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 40763
- Built
- 2011
- Engines
- CFM 56-7B-7B3, turbo fanCFM 56-7B-7B3, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- American Airlines
- Registered owner
- Wilmington Trust Co Trustee
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- KORF · Chicago, IL
- Destination
- KLGA · East Elmhurst, NY
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- KORF · Chicago O'Hare Int'l
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
- Age
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 28, 2018
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 11,710 total · 1,039 in this make and model · 14,801 as pilot in command
- Role
- Co-pilot
- Age
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 22,000 total · 8,345 in this make and model · 8,026 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 25, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.1 MB in all.