Chicago – Madison – Duluth

On December 20, 1972 at 06:00 PM, Chicago – Madison – Duluth experienced a crash involving Douglas DC-9, operated by North Central Airlines, with the event recorded near Chicago-O'Hare Illinois.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

45 people were known to be on board, 10 fatalities were recorded, 35 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 22.2%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 41, passenger fatalities: 10, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The crew was cleared to takeoff from runway 27L. During the takeoff roll completed by night and a visibility limited to 250 feet due to fog, the captain called for rotation and the copilot, the pilot-in-command, started the rotation when one of the wing struck the tail of a Delta Airlines Convair CV-880. Registered N8807E, the Convair just landed at O'Hare Airport on flight DL954 from Tampa and its crew was cleared to cross runway 27L to roll to the gate. The collision caused the tail of the Convair to be torn off. Out of control, the DC-9 landed back onto the runway then veered off and came to rest in flames. The Convair was damaged beyond repair and the DC-9 was destroyed by a post crash fire. While 10 people on board the Convair were injured, 10 passengers on board the DC-9 were killed and 35 others were injured, some of them seriously.

Aircraft reference details include registration N954N, MSN 47159, year of manufacture 1967.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 41.9828°, -87.8434°.