Date & Time: Dec 20, 1972 at 1800 LT
Type of aircraft:
Convair CV-880
Operator:
Registration:
N8807E
Flight Phase:
Taxiing
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Airport (less than 10 km from airport)
Schedule:
Tampa - Chicago
MSN:
22-00-29
YOM:
1960
Flight number:
DL954
Location:
Chicago-O'Hare
Illinois
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
86
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
0
Captain / Total flying hours:
5500
Captain / Total hours on type:
2400
Copilot / Total flying hours:
3600
Copilot / Total hours on type:
500
Aircraft flight hours:
37640
Circumstances:
Flight DL954 from Tampa landed uneventfully at Chicago-O'Hare Airport. The crew was cleared to taxi to the gate and to cross runway 27L when the airplane was struck by a North Central Airlines Douglas DC-9-31 registered N954N. En route to Duluth via Madison, the DC-9 was carrying 41 passengers and a crew of four and his pilot just received the clearance to take off from runway 27L. One of the DC-9's wing struck the tail of the Convair that stopped immediately. out of control, the DC-9 veered off runway and came to rest in flames. The Convair was damaged beyond repair and the DC-9 was destroyed by a post crash fire. Among the 93 occupants on board the Convair, 10 were injured. Among the 45 occupants on board the DC-9, 10 were killed and 35 were injured, some of them seriously.
Probable cause:
Failure of the air traffic control system to ensure separation of aircraft during a period of restricted visibility. This failure included the following:
- The controller omitted a critical word which made his transmission to the flight crew of the Delta CV-880 ambiguous,
- The controller did not use all the available information to determine the location of the CV-880,
- The CV-880 flight crew did not request clarification of the controller's communications.
Final Report:
N8807E.pdf2.73 MB