Boeing 777-223ER N779AN

Summary

On 25 April 2000 at about 14:28 local time, a Boeing 777-223ER registered N779AN was involved in an incident near Chicago, Illinois, United States. 167 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

25 April 2000 at 14:28

Classification

Incident

Location

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

O'hare International (ORD)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Boeing 777-223ER

Registration

N779AN

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → London

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI00IA125

Nobody was injured.

the flightcrew not detecting the runway closure NOTAM and the Air Traffic Control personnel on the metering, ground, and local positions giving an improper clearance to taxi to a closed runway. Factors were the closed runway, ATIS information not issued by Air Traffic Control personnel, and insufficiently defined procedures of disseminating pertinent safety of flight information.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane departed from a closed runway. No injuries were reported. The first officer's stated, "After normal preflight and gate departure. We advised metering that we were ready for taxi and would prefer 32R if available. Ground gave us clearance to taxi to 32R. Tower first had us hold short and then position and hold awaiting the departure of two aircraft from intersecting runways. We were then cleared for takeoff." The airport had issued a runway closure NOTAM. The flight's dispatch contained the NOTAM. The dispatch listed the runway status as open. ATIS did not list the runway closure. A FAA recommendation stated, "Add the suggestion to our list of good operating procedures that closure strips should not be used as departure strip runway separators. Closure strips should be placed and left in a prominent position on the podiums. ... In addition to Locals and Grounds receiving runway closure strips, both Flight Data and Ground Metering should have closure strips as well. ... Revise Flight Data, Clearance Delivery, and Ground Metering positions relief checklists to include runway closure information. Brief operational personnel that runway closures must be broadcast on the ATIS. Brief operational personnel that pilots must be informed that a runway is closed when it is requested for takeoff/landing. Brief operational supervisors of the requirement to ensure ATIS broadcasts are correct and contain pertinent information."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.