Short Brothers SD360 N366MQ

Summary

On 8 March 1989 at about 00:59 local time, a Short Brothers SD360 registered N366MQ, operated by Simmons Airlines, was involved in an incident near Chicago, Illinois, United States. 37 people were on board and nobody was injured. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 March 1989 at 00:59

Classification

Incident

Location

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

O'hare Intl (ORD)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Short Brothers SD360

Registration

N366MQ

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Simmons Airlines

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → South Bend

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI89IA054

Nobody was injured.

THE PIC FOLLOWED A CLEARANCE INTENDED FOR ANOTHER AIRPLANE.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE LOCAL CONTROLLER POSITIONED SIMMONS 4058 ON RWY 9L FIRST, AND THEN POSITIONED SIMMONS 4158 (THIS AIRPLANE) ON RWY 4L. HE THEN RETURNED TO SIMMONS 4058, STATED THE RWY NUMBER, & CLEARED IT FOR TAKEOFF. BEFORE SIMMONS 4058 HAD A CHANCE TO REPLY, SIMMONS 4158 (THIS AIRPLANE) ACKNOWLEDGED THE CLEARANCE. SIMMONS 4058 QUERIED THE CLEARANCE. REALIZING THE CONFUSION, AND SEEING SIMMONS 4158 (THIS AIRPLANE) MOVING, THE CONTROLLER CANCELED SIMMONS 4058 TAKEOFF CLEARANCE. SIMMONS 4058 REPLIED 'WE THOUGHT THAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN'. A PILOT 'SLOWDOWN' WAS TAKING PLACE AT THE TIME, AND THE CONTROLLERS STATED THAT PILOTS WERE TAXIING MORE SLOWLY THAN USUAL AND APPEARED TO GET LOST OR CONFUSED ON THE GROUND MORE OFTEN. THE CREW OF SIMMONS 4158 VEHEMENTLY DENIED PARTICIPATION IN THE UNION-RELATED WORK SLOWDOWN. THE SAFETY BOARD HAS ISSUED RECOMMENDATIONS ADDRESSING SIMILAR FLIGHT CALL SIGN CONFUSION.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.