Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chicago, Illinois 60605
Saturday, July 19, 1997 18:07 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot of a Cessna was cleared to pass southbound through Class D Airspace by the ATC controller. At 1802:09 CDT the controller advised the pilot to '...report abeam... .' At 1802:13 CDT The pilot acknowledged the controller, but did not report abeam the airport. The record shows that the controller did not ask the Cessna pilot if she was abeam the airport. The controller stated she was monitoring an airplane that was about 5-miles southeast of the airport during this period. The pilot of that airplane reported having difficulty with its landing gear. At 1803:35 CDT the pilot of a Beech A-36 Bonanza called the tower advising the controller the airplane was '...9-miles south ... inbound...' for landing. At 1803:41 CDT the controller told the pilot to '...report 4 south of the field plan on runway 36.' The pilot of the A-36 asked the controller about an airplane that reported 10-miles south of the airport at 1803:47 CDT. The controller said that the airplane was '...well clear of the Class Delta surface area sorry about that.' The A-36 pilot responded, 'No problem.' At 1804:06 the controller advised the pilot of the A-36 about the airplane she had been monitoring. The A-36's pilot acknowledged the controller s information. The A-36 pilot reported 4 miles south at 1805:53 CDT. The controller cleared the A-36's pilot to land on runway 36 at 1803:56 CDT. The A-36 pilot acknowledged the clearance. The record shows that the controller did not advise the Cessna and A-36 Bonanza pilot s of each others proximity to the other. The two airplanes collided with each other about 3-miles south of the airport.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilots not maintaining visual separation between their airplanes. A factor in this accident was the pilot of the southbound airplane not reporting her position abeam the airport as directed by the ATC controller.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/19/1997
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1807
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City CHICAGO
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 60605
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator Yes
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Unknown
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1818 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID CGX
Elevation of weather observation facility 593
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 3
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 15000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 7
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 7
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1739
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 19 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1815
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:24PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft #2

Aircraft Registration Number N5323K N2071L
NTSB Number CHI97FA218A CHI97FA218B
Missing Aircraft Indicator N N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None None
Flight plan Was Activated? -- --
Damage Destroyed Destroyed
Aircraft Fire In-flight None
Aircraft Explosion None None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna Beech
Aircraft Model 172P A-36
Aircraft Series Identifier 172P A-36
Aircraft Serial Number 17274064 E966
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300 3600
Aircraft Category Airplane Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No No
Flight Crew Seats -- --
Cabin Crew Seats -- --
Passenger Seats -- --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4 6
Number of Engines 1 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour Unknown
Date of Last Inspection May 21 1997 12:00AM --
Airframe hours since last inspection 60 --
Airframe Hours 8384 2049
ELT Installed Yes Yes
ELT Activated No No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown Unknown
ELT Type -- --
Aircraft Owner Name AVIATION MANAGEMENT CORP. YUNKER AIR LTD
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 553 200 SHERIDAN SPRINGS RD
Aircraft Owner City LANSING LAKE GENEVA
Aircraft Owner State IL WI
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 60438 53147
Operator is an individual? -- --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As -- --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown Unknown
Operator Certificate Number -- --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not -- --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight -- --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail -- --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown Personal
Second Pilot on Board Yes Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No No
Departure Airport Code 3HA MGC
Departure City LANSING MICHIGAN CITY
Departure State IL IN
Departure Country
Departure Time 0 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code CGX CGX
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise Approach
Report sent to ICAO? -- --
Evacuation occurred -- --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo dbo
Since inspection or accident -- --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0 0
Runway Length -- --
Runway Width -- --
Sight Seeing flight Yes No
Air Medical Flight No No
Medical Flight -- --