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| Date: | Saturday 25 February 1995 |
| Time: | 20:25 LT |
| Type: |  Boeing 747-136 |
| Owner/operator: | British Airways |
| Registration: | G-AWNM |
| MSN: | 20708/210 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1973 |
| Engine model: | P&W JT9D-7A |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 357 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | Chicago, IL -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | |
| (KLHR) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) FLIGHT 296 WAS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF ON RUNWAY 32R WITH A RIGHT TURN TO A HEADING OF 070 DEGREES. UNITED AIRLINES (UA) FLIGHT 243 WAS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF ON RUNWAY 4L WITH A LEFT TURN TO A HEADING OF 320 DEGREES, 49 SECONDS LATER. THE NORTH LOCAL CONTROLLER AT THE CHICAGO O'HARE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER (ATCT) ISSUED SEVERAL HEADING AND ALTITUDE CHANGES TO UA FLIGHT 243 UNTIL THE COURSES OF THE TWO AIRPLANES DIVERGED. THE MINIMUM LATERAL SEPARATION REQUIRED BETWEEN TWO HEAVY AIRPLANES IN THE CHICAGO TERMINAL AREA IS FOUR MILES. THE PILOT OF UA FLIGHT 243 ESTIMATED THE MINIMUM SEPARATION BETWEEN THE TWO AIRPLANES WAS 300 FEET VERTICALLY AND ONE MILE HORIZONTALLY. THE ATCT WAS STAFFED WITH TWO LOCAL CONTROLLERS, A RELIEVING NORTH LOCAL CONTROLLER, A LOCAL CONTROL MONITOR, AN AREA SUPERVISOR, AND AN AREA MANAGER. THE TRAFFIC WAS DESCRIBED AS 'FAIRLY BUSY' AND THE CONFIGURATION AS 'COMPLEX' BUT NOT ABNORMAL FOR THE O'HARE ATCT.
Probable Cause: the North Local Controller's failure to issue a clearance which would ensure separation between the two airplanes and the North Local Control Monitor's failure to adequately back up the controller. Factors were the complexity of the airport operations and task overload of the North Local Controller.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB CHI95IA095
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 11 September 1988 | G-AWNM | British Airways | 0 | Near London Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) |  |
sub |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Mar-2024 09:02 | ASN Update Bot | Added |
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