Chicago O'hare Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chicago, Illinois 60018
Sunday, December 16, 2007 18:55 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The captain reported that the flight had landed and was taxiing to the gate when the accident occurred. He stated that as they passed an airport service road - taxiway intersection, the airplane hit something. The captain brought the airplane to a stop, but at the time the flight crew could not see what they hit. He continued, turning left onto the next intersecting taxiway. At that time he saw the overturned tug along the south edge of the taxiway at the service road intersection. He taxied to the assigned gate and deplaned the passengers without further incident. Witnesses in a van behind the tug reported that the tug did not stop short of the taxiway and continued to move onto the taxiway as the airplane approached. The right wing of the airplane subsequently struck the tug and flipped it over. The tug driver was hospitalized for injuries received during the accident. He had no recollection of the events surrounding the accident. Witnesses recalled that the taxiway was wet at the service road intersection, but that it was not snowing at that time. The surface visibility about the time of the accident was 10 miles with no precipitation or restrictions to visibility. The airport Ground Motor Vehicle Operation Regulations Manual stated that, "All ground vehicle operators must yield the right-of-way to an aircraft in motion."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The tug driver's failure to yield the right-of-way to the airplane prior to crossing the active taxiway as required by airport procedures, and his subsequent failure to maintain clearance with the airplane. A contributing factor was the presence of the tug on the taxiway at the time the airplane passed the service road intersection. Additional factors were the wet pavement and the night lighting conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/16/2007
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1855
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Chicago
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 60018
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 12
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 On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 668
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1851 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID ORD
Elevation of weather observation facility 668
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height 1400
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
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) -7
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 18
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.07
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KORD 170051Z 28008G16KT 10SM BKN014 M07/M11
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries 1
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 32
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 23625
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Dec 16 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 28 2008 12:03PM
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 N918SW
NTSB Number CHI08LA051
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 Bombardier
Aircraft Model CL-600-2B19
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 7645
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 54
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Dec 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 14195
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Wells Fargo Bank Northwest
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
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 Skywest Airlines Inc
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City St George
Operator State UT
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 84790
Operator Code SWIA
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 MSN
Departure City Madison
Departure State WI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1800
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code ORD
Destination City Chicago
Destination State IL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Taxi - from landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 11 2008 8:44PM
User who most recently changed record BOWL
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 22R
Runway Length 7500
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --