Chicago Midway Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chicago, Illinois 60638
Saturday, August 20, 2005 8:54 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The aircraft sustained substantial damage during a collision with a fence while taxing to runway 22L for takeoff at the Chicago Midway International Airport. The captain stated, "Advised of 9 [minute] delay for release. Maneuvered A/C [aircraft] out of the way of other departing A/C. Went to place A/C in corner west of terminal C; east of hold short line as previously done. Both [captain and first officer] closely monitored the final left turn with respect to aircraft proximity to perimeter fence. Toward end of turn, nose wheel skipped as if crossing wet/slick pavement. ... [Flight attendant] called to state that [a passenger] had said wing had struck the fence." The airplane was found parked by hold short line for runway 22L with its right wing tip in the perimeter fence. The airplane was not on a taxiway centerline. The area was marked as a movement area. Approximately the outboard four foot section of the right wing's leading edge slat was crushed rearward and the slat was imbedded in an I-beam channel that held up the perimeter fence panels there. The I-beams were yellow and the panels were gray in color. A leading edge wing rib was dented, cracked about 1.25 inches, and was bowed. The airport perimeter fence was damaged. The operator's safety recommendation stated, "In addition to providing all of our flight crews with instructions not to enter this area, we conducted a survey of the area and recommend the following: Contact Jeppesen and recommend that the charts for the MDW Airport be revised to show this area as a "Push Back Zone" and note that aircraft should not taxi into any part of the push back zone. I spoke to several crewmembers about this recommendation and the consensus among those interviewed was that a notice on the chart would not be necessary; however, it might alert them to the fact that this is a tight area and should not be used as an alternate holding area. They believe that crews in general should not move off of marked taxi lines under any circumstance and good aviation practices, if observed, would keep this type of event from occurring."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The flightcrew's failure to maintain clearance from a fence while taxiing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/20/2005
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 854
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Chicago
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 60638
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 414715N
Event Location Longitude 0874515W
Event Location Airport CHICAGO MIDWAY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID MDW
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.5
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 620
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 853 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 220
Weather Observation Facility ID MDW
Elevation of weather observation facility 620
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 20000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1100
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) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
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) 29.89
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report KMDW 201353Z 21010KT 10SM FEW011 SCT100 BKN200 24/
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 171
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21567
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 20 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 27 2007 1:15PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Schiller Park, IL, FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N557TZ
NTSB Number CHI05LA238
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Boeing
Aircraft Model 757-33N
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 32591
Certified Max Gross Weight 271000
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 234
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection May 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1204
Airframe Hours 10821
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Wells Fargo Bank Northwest NA Trustee
Aircraft Owner Street Address 299 S Main St MAC U1228-120
Aircraft Owner City Salt Lake City
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84111
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name AMERICAN TRANS AIR INC
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 7337 West Washington Street
Operator City Indianapolis
Operator State IN
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 46231
Operator Code AMTA
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code MDW
Departure City Chicago
Departure State IL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 854
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code SFO
Destination City SAN FRANCISCO
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Taxi - to takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 10 2007 12:07PM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 22L
Runway Length 6446
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --