Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Chicago O'hare Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chicago, Illinois 60666
Thursday, July 17, 2003 15:45 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A passenger sustained a broken ankle when the flight encountered moderate turbulence. The captain reported that the seat belt sign was on prior to entering a buildup. The captain stated, "However a passenger, ... had still not taken her seat. Apparently she had been in the lavatory when I turned on the seat belt sign, and was returning to her seat at the time of the encounter." An excerpt from an airline weather study stated, "Even though the main band of convective activity had passed the location of the incident, the possibility of a towering cumulus cell re-building behind the first band was indeed possible as the air mass was becoming gradually unstable again. ... Therefore, the pilot report of encountering a jolt of light turbulence followed by moderate turbulence is plausible."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The turbulence encountered during the descent which seriously injured a passenger returning to her seat after the seat belt sign was activated. A factor was that it was not possible for the returning passenger to comply with the lit seat belt sign.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/17/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1545 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Chicago |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 60666 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 415847N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0875416W |
| Event Location Airport | CHICAGO O'HARE INTL |
| 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 | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 668 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1556 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 123 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ORD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 668 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 57 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | Chicago O'Hare International Airport Chicago, Ill |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 269 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15428 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 31 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1629 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2004 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA Schiller Park, Illinois FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N779UA |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA237 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | B777-222 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 26941 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 545000 |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 23 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3115 |
| Airframe Hours | 28617 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | UNITED AIR LINES INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1200 E Algonquin Rd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Elk Grove Township |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60007 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. Box 66100 |
| Operator City | Chicago |
| Operator State | IL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 60666 |
| Operator Code | UALA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | DEN |
| Departure City | DENVER |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ORD |
| Destination City | CHICAGO |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 6 2004 3:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |