NTSB DCA19CA038 — 2018-12-03 · Chicago, Illinois, United States

Current FAA registration · N868NN

Make / Model: BOEING 737-823
Year of manufacture: 2011 · 7 years old at event
Engine: CFM INTL CFM56-7B24/3
Seats / Engines: 162 seats · 2 engines
Last airworthiness date: 20110605
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S ABEDC8

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N868NN Boeing 737 Serious

Probable cause & findings

an object which fell from an overhead bin struck a flight attendant resulting in a serious injury.

Factual narrative

On December 3, 2018, about 10:35 central standard time, American Airlines flight 114, a Boeing 737-800, N868NN, was taxiing from the gate at Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Chicago, Illinois, when a flight attendant was injured when an object fell onto from an overhead bin. The remaining passengers and crew were not injured, and the airplane was not damaged. The regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight was operating under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 from ORD, to LaGuardia Airport (LGA), East Elmhurst, New York. According to the operator, while taxiing for takeoff, a flight attendant opened an overhead bin, and a laptop fell out, striking her in the eye and forcing her left eye out of the socket. The flight returned to the gate and the flight attendant was transported to a hospital. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-(general)-Cabin crew - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2018_DCA19CA038.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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