Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Chicago O'hare Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chicago, Illinois 60666
Thursday, September 16, 2004 14:13 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The domestic air carrier flight encountered a flock of birds during climb out after takeoff. The flight crew reported that they noticed the flock of birds too late to avoid them. The first officer, who was the pilot flying, stated: "The flock separated and passed on both sides of the aircraft. We felt and heard the impact. The left engine immediately seized and a fire warning ensued." The crew successfully extinguished the engine fire and returned to the departure airport for an emergency landing. Examination of the engine revealed that the fan module sustained damage during the event. The module rotated approximately 45-degrees which pulled the fuel line to the fuel/oil cooler loose. Observed fire damage was in the area of the fuel/oil cooler. A bird recovered from the debris path was identified as a double-crested cormorant. It was estimated to weigh 5 pounds intact. Examination of bird debris recovered from the engine confirmed that at least two birds were ingested.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An in-flight collision with a flock of birds during climb out after takeoff, which damaged the left engine fan module and ruptured a fuel line to the fuel-oil cooler causing an engine fire.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 9/16/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1413 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Chicago |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 60666 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 415843N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0875417W |
| 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 | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 60 |
| Airport Elevation | 668 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ORD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 668 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KORD 161956Z 01007KT 10SM FEW035 23/10 A3000 |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 112 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18084 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-AGL-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 16 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1527 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2005 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-O'Hare FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N253AA |
| NTSB Number | CHI04IA260 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | DC-9-82 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 49286 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 137 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 15 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 59803 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | American Airlines Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 619616 |
| Aircraft Owner City | DFW Airport |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75261 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | AALR |
| 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 | ORD |
| Departure City | Chicago |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1410 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PHL |
| Destination City | Philadelphia |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 18 2005 9:29AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32L |
| Runway Length | 13000 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |