Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chicago, Illinois
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 21:53 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

An operational error occurred when an Embraer regional jet departing from runway 9R conflicted with a Raytheon-Beech King Air conducting a navigational flight check of equipment associated with runway 32. Both airplanes were receiving air traffic control services and were operating in Class B airspace. The control position handling the two airplanes was being operated by a trainee controller and an instructor. The trainee issued an improper takeoff clearance and departure heading to the regional jet that caused it to conflict with the King Air. The instructor did not notice the error and failed to intervene to prevent the loss of separation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The air traffic controller's issuance of an improper takeoff clearance to the pilot of the Embraer. Contributing to the incident was the instructor’s inadequate monitoring of the trainee local controller.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 4/21/2010
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 2153
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Chicago
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site --
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 253 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KORD
Elevation of weather observation facility 600
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation UTC
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height 9000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 6
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.87
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury --
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 29191
NTSB Notification Source FAA / American Eagle Airlines
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 30 2011 9:21AM
User who most recently changed record duns
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft #2

Aircraft Registration Number -- --
NTSB Number OPS10IA155A OPS10IA155B
Missing Aircraft Indicator -- --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part -- --
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? -- --
Damage None None
Aircraft Fire None None
Aircraft Explosion None None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name EMBRAER BEECH
Aircraft Model EMB-135KL 300
Aircraft Series Identifier -- --
Aircraft Serial Number 145503 FF-6
Certified Max Gross Weight -- --
Aircraft Category Airplane Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class -- --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No No
Flight Crew Seats -- --
Cabin Crew Seats -- --
Passenger Seats -- --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 37 19
Number of Engines 2 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection -- --
Date of Last Inspection -- --
Airframe hours since last inspection -- --
Airframe Hours -- --
ELT Installed Unknown Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown Unknown
ELT Type -- --
Aircraft Owner Name -- --
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4333 AMON CARTER BLVD # MD5494 AVIATION SYSTEM STANDARDS AJW3400
Aircraft Owner City FORT WORTH OKLAHOMA CITY
Aircraft Owner State TX OK
Aircraft Owner Country USA USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76155-2605 73169-6901
Operator is an individual? No No
Operator Name -- --
Operator Same as Owner? No No
Operator Is Doing Business As -- --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes No
Operator Street Address -- --
Operator City -- --
Operator State -- --
Operator Country USA USA
Operator Zip code -- --
Operator Code SIMA MV1M
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation -- --
Operator Certificate Number SIMA586A --
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes Yes
Departure Airport Code -- --
Departure City Chicago Chicago
Departure State IL IL
Departure Country USA USA
Departure Time -- --
Departure Time Zone CDT CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt -- crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code KLIT --
Destination City Little Rock Chicago
Destination State AR IL
Destination Country USA USA
Specific Phase of Flight -- --
Report sent to ICAO? -- --
Evacuation occurred -- --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 28 2011 5:37PM Nov 8 2011 3:12PM
User who most recently changed record duns duns
Since inspection or accident -- --
Event Location Runway Number and Location -- --
Runway Length -- --
Runway Width -- --
Sight Seeing flight -- --
Air Medical Flight -- --
Medical Flight -- --