Chicago O’Hare International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chicago, Illinois 60666
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 13:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On May 30, 2012, at about 1300 central daylight time, an Embraer 135, registration N834AE, operated by American Eagle Airlines as flight 4265, experienced substantial damage to the rudder and vertical stabilizer when it was struck by a Boeing 747-400, Taiwan registration B16481, operated by EVA Air as flight 661, while the 747 was taxiing at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Chicago, IL. The Embraer 135 was entering the ramp area and awaiting ground personnel to guide it to gate G20. The tail section was protruding into taxiway A. The 747 was taxiing westbound on taxiway A in the vicinity of A12 when the right wingtip contacted the Embraer 135's rudder and vertical stabilizer. There was minor wingtip and slat damage to the 747. There were no injuries to the 3 crew and 18 passengers on the Embraer 135 or the 3 crew on the 747. The Embraer 135 was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 as a scheduled domestic passenger flight, and the Boeing 747-400 was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 129 as a scheduled international passenger flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/30/2012
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1300
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Chicago
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 60666
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator --
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Chicago O’Hare International
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 --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1251 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID ORD
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 6000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4700
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.91
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
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 24
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) --
NTSB Notification Source ORD
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 31 2012 10:20AM
User who most recently changed record schd
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft #2

Aircraft Registration Number B16481 N834AE
NTSB Number DCA12FA082A DCA12FA082B
Missing Aircraft Indicator -- --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 129: Foreign Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes Yes
Damage Minor Substantial
Aircraft Fire None None
Aircraft Explosion -- --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BOEING EMBRAER
Aircraft Model 747 EMB135
Aircraft Series Identifier 45EF KL
Aircraft Serial Number 30607 145-631
Certified Max Gross Weight 870000 46738
Aircraft Category Airplane Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class -- --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No No
Flight Crew Seats 4 2
Cabin Crew Seats 0 1
Passenger Seats 2 41
Total number of seats on the aircraft 6 44
Number of Engines 4 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection May 16 2012 12:00AM May 26 2012 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection -- --
Airframe Hours 57114 24059
ELT Installed Yes Yes
ELT Activated No No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No Unknown
ELT Type -- --
Aircraft Owner Name Julystar 747-00 Limited AMERICAN EAGLE AIRLINES INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address -- --
Aircraft Owner City Grand Cayman Fort Worth
Aircraft Owner State -- TX
Aircraft Owner Country CJ USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode -- --
Operator is an individual? No No
Operator Name EVA AIRWAYS CORP AMERICAN EAGLE AIRLINES INC
Operator Same as Owner? No Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As -- --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No No
Operator Street Address 376 Sec.1, Hsin-Nang Rd, Lu-CHU --
Operator City Taoyuan Fort Worth
Operator State -- TX
Operator Country TW USA
Operator Zip code -- --
Operator Code QOCF SIMA
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation -- --
Operator Certificate Number QOCF349F SIMA586A
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Scheduled Scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight International Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Cargo Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) -- --
Second Pilot on Board -- --
Departure Point Same as Event Yes No
Departure Airport Code ORD SGF
Departure City Chicago Springfield
Departure State IL MO
Departure Country USA USA
Departure Time -- 1141
Departure Time Zone CDT CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt -- crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code ANC ORD
Destination City Anchorage Chicago
Destination State AK IL
Destination Country USA USA
Specific Phase of Flight -- --
Report sent to ICAO? -- --
Evacuation occurred -- --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 31 2012 10:48AM Aug 31 2012 10:48AM
User who most recently changed record schd schd
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A N/A
Runway Length -- --
Runway Width -- --
Sight Seeing flight No No
Air Medical Flight No No
Medical Flight -- --