Preliminary Information Shows The Airplanes Came Within 125
Feet Vertical And 350 Feet Horizontal
The NTSB has issued its preliminary report in a near-collision
between two Embraer regional jets operating in VFR conditions near
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on August 8th. The board
ascribes the incident to "controller error" in its initial
findings.
NTSB Identification: OPS11IA819A/B
(A)Scheduled 14 CFR Part 121: Air Carrier operation of CHAUTAUQUA
AIRLINES INC
(B)Scheduled 14 CFR Part 121: Air Carrier operation of TRANS STATES
AIRLINES INC
Incident occurred Monday, August 08, 2011 in Chicago, IL
Aircraft: EMBRAER (both)
Injuries: Unavailable
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may
contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when
the final report has been completed.
On Monday, August 8, 2011, at approximately 1100 central
daylight time, an air traffic control operational error occurred at
Chicago-O'Hare International Airport (ORD) when Chautauqua Airlines
flight 5021 (CHQ5021), an Embraer 135 regional jet, and Trans
States Airlines flight 3367 (LOF3367), an Embraer 145 regional jet,
passed within 125 feet vertically and 350 feet laterally above
runway 32L at the extended centerline of runway 9R. Both airplanes
were operating under instrument flight rules at the time of the
incident and were in contact with the Chicago O'Hare air traffic
control tower.
ORD arrivals to runway 9R are controlled by the North Local
controller, and departures from runway 32L are controlled by the
Third Local controller. The Chautauqua ERJ-135 was on final
approach to land on runway 9R when the Trans States ERJ-145 was
cleared for takeoff from runway 32L. The flight paths for these two
runways intersect over runway 32L. The conflict was detected by the
Third Local controller when the Chautauqua ERJ-135 was
approximately 1 mile from the threshold of runway 9R. He instructed
the North Local controller to tell the Chautauqua flight to
discontinue the landing and go around. The Third Local controller
issued a traffic alert to the Trans States ERJ-145 just as the
aircraft was lifting off from runway 32L, telling the crew to
"traffic alert, left to right it's an American Eagle, stay as low
as you can." The crew acknowledged the instruction, stating "Yeah,
we're doing that," and resumed normal climb after crossing the
runway 9R final approach course.
The Chautauqua ERJ-135 was on a regularly scheduled 14 Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) part 121 passenger flight operating from
La Crosse, Wisconsin to Chicago, IL with 36 passengers and 3 crew
members, and the Trans States ERJ-145 was on a regularly scheduled
14 CFR part 121 passenger flight operating from Chicago, IL to
Moline, IL with 42 passengers and 3 crew members. The Chautauqua
flight continued to LaCrosse without further incident, and the
Trans States flight returned for landing at ORD. There were no
reports of injuries or damage to either aircraft. Weather
conditions at the time of the incident were ceiling 20,000 feet
broken, visibility 10 statute miles.