By Darren Shannon in Washington DC
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) believes a controller error caused a runway incursion at Chicago O'Hare involving a United Airlines Boeing 737-300 and an Atlas Air Boeing 747.
According to the NTSB, the 23 July incident occurred at about 22:00 when the Atlas freighter crossed runway 27L (after landing on 14R) after United flight 1015 was cleared for take-off. The agency says the 737 was able to take off, but overflew the larger aircraft.
The NTSB estimates the aircraft came within 200-300ft (60-90m), although this is understood to be the distance between the fuselages as the 737 passed above the 747, and not the measurement between the widebody's tail and the 737's undercarriage. It is unclear if the United pilot took evasive action.
Air traffic controller error is most likely to blame, says the FAA. "The FAA has begun an investigation into this controller error, but at this point, the severity level has not been determined," it says.
United says 120 passengers and five crew were on board the flight to Denver.
Source: Flight International
