Boeing 747-136 incident near Chicago, Illinois, February 26, 1995
On February 26, 1995, a Boeing 747-136, registered GAWNM, was involved in an incident near Chicago, Illinois (Chicago O'Hare Int'L airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under foreign airline rules (Part 129). No one was hurt; 357 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the North Local Controller's failure to issue a clearance which would ensure separation between the two airplanes and the North Local Control Monitor's failure to adequately back up the controller. Factors were the complexity of the airport operations and task overload of the North Local Controller.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- February 26, 1995
- Place
- Chicago, Illinois · Chicago O'Hare Int'L
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 357 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 747-136 · all 747-136s on the register
- Registration
- GAWNM · no longer on the register
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · foreign airline rules (Part 129)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) FLIGHT 296 WAS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF ON RUNWAY 32R WITH A RIGHT TURN TO A HEADING OF 070 DEGREES. UNITED AIRLINES (UA) FLIGHT 243 WAS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF ON RUNWAY 4L WITH A LEFT TURN TO A HEADING OF 320 DEGREES, 49 SECONDS LATER. THE NORTH LOCAL CONTROLLER AT THE CHICAGO O'HARE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER (ATCT) ISSUED SEVERAL HEADING AND ALTITUDE CHANGES TO UA FLIGHT 243 UNTIL THE COURSES OF THE TWO AIRPLANES DIVERGED. THE MINIMUM LATERAL SEPARATION REQUIRED BETWEEN TWO HEAVY AIRPLANES IN THE CHICAGO TERMINAL AREA IS FOUR MILES. THE PILOT OF UA FLIGHT 243 ESTIMATED THE MINIMUM SEPARATION BETWEEN THE TWO AIRPLANES WAS 300 FEET VERTICALLY AND ONE MILE HORIZONTALLY. THE ATCT WAS STAFFED WITH TWO LOCAL CONTROLLERS, A RELIEVING NORTH LOCAL CONTROLLER, A LOCAL CONTROL MONITOR, AN AREA SUPERVISOR, AND AN AREA MANAGER. THE TRAFFIC WAS DESCRIBED AS 'FAIRLY BUSY' AND THE CONFIGURATION AS 'COMPLEX' BUT NOT ABNORMAL FOR THE O'HARE ATCT.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 10,100 hours in all; 7,000 in this make and model; 62 in the last 90 days; 39 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme
- Maximum gross weight: 710,000 lb
- Seats: 418
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W JT9D-7A (turbojet); 0 hours total
The flight
- Destination: LHR London
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 060° at 15 knots, gusting 22
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 10,000 ft
- Temperature: 37°F (3°C), dew point 27°F (-3°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 18 | |||
| Passengers | 339 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.