O'hare Int'l Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chicago, Illinois 60666
Thursday, September 17, 1998 19:33 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Flight 146, an ATR-42 was approximately 18 miles from the airport on the ILS 09R approach when it encountered wake turbulence from a Flight 554, a Boeing 737-300, which was vectored onto the approach from the north in front of Flight 146. Radar data showed Flight 554 intercepted the localizer approximately 17.5 miles from the airport while descending from 5,200 feet to 4,800 feet. Flight 146 was at an altitude of about 4,900 feet when the wake turbulence encounter occurred. Separation of the two airplanes when the encounter occurred was approximately 4.8 miles. Vertical acceleration of Flight 146 varied from 2.3679 g's to .5542 g's during the encounter.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the wake turbulence encountered by Flight 146.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/17/1998
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1933
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City CHICAGO
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 60666
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport O'HARE INT'L
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ORD
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 18
Degrees magnetic from airport 270
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Unknown
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 8000
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 40
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
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 Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 15
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1067
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 18 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 817
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 11:45AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N233RM
NTSB Number CHI98LA351
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Aerospatiale
Aircraft Model ATR-42-300
Aircraft Series Identifier ATR-42-300
Aircraft Serial Number 235
Certified Max Gross Weight 37258
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 49
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Jun 6 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name IDEFIX LEASING CORP
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1209 ORANGE ST.
Aircraft Owner City WILMINGTON
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19801
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name AMERICAN EAGLE, INC.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 43333 AMON CARTER BLVD
Operator City FT. WORTH
Operator State TX
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 76155
Operator Code SIMA
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code CWA
Departure City MOSINEE
Departure State WI
Departure Country
Departure Time 1836
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code ORD
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --