What happened
During a period of heavy fog with visibility reduced to only 250 feet, a collision occurred on runway 27L at Chicago O'Hare Airport. The crew of a DC-9 was performing their takeoff roll under nighttime conditions when the aircraft struck the tail of a Delta Airlines Convair CV-880, registration N8807E. The Convair, operating as flight DL954 from Tampa, had recently landed and was authorized to cross runway 27L to proceed to its gate.
The impact caused the tail section of the N8807E to be severed. Following the collision, the DC-9 lost control, returned to the runway surface, and eventually veered off the pavement where a post-crash fire occurred. The wreckage of the DC-9 was completely destroyed by the flames. The Convair sustained damage that rendered it beyond repair. The accident resulted in 10 fatalities among the passengers on the DC-9, along with 35 injuries, some of which were severe. On the Convair, 10 individuals sustained injuries.
Findings
Investigations into the collision highlighted several critical failures within the air traffic control system regarding aircraft separation during low visibility. A primary factor was an ambiguous transmission from the controller to the crew of the N8807E, caused by the omission of a vital word. Additionally, the controller failed to utilize all available data to track the position of the Convair. The investigation also noted that the flight crew of the N8807E did not seek further clarification regarding the instructions provided by air traffic control.