B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 165; Flight Crew Total 8870; Flight Crew Type 2187
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness; Time Pressure; Confusion
ATC Issue All Types; Conflict Ground Conflict; Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Procedure; Airport; Environment - Non Weather Related
[We were] leaving the ramp after having coordinated with Metering; then Ground. Given Instructions to follow two RJ's from the left; taxing north on [Taxiway] A; left on [Taxiway] A-7 to [Taxiway] T for a [Runway] 32L [Intersection] T-10 Departure. While northbound on [Taxiway] A; [we] switched to monitor Tower. As we made our left turn on [Taxiway] A-7 a VERY high speed; unidentified RJ from the right came around the corner; southbound on [Taxiway] B. His taxi light was on and his speed precluded his yielding to our crossing at [Taxiway] A-7. We queried Tower; but he didn't have the RJ on his strip. My Captain had to hit the brakes abruptly to avoid a ground collision to the speeding; non-yielding RJ from the right. After the near-collision; we reported the incident to Tower; informed them we would be making a report; [we] then taxied as cleared and departed on [Runway] 32L at T-10 as planned.
ORD Ground Control consistently shock me at the lack of professionalism and overall disregard for safety. On FOUR occasions I've had to take action contrary to a clearance to avoid a ground collision. Lack of standardized practice such as waiting for a readback to confirm a complex taxi instruction is the norm. The phrase Normalization of Deviation was coined following the NASA Challenger disaster. Well that same term applies to the manner ORD Ground Control operates. I only hope it doesn't take such a dramatic tragedy to precipitate change to the manner ORD Ground Control operates. I feel if one observed the manner they simply 'move the metal' in a complex environment the same conclusion would be reached. Something has to change in the manner they operate. I've been a professional airline pilot for nearly 20 years; operating at airports from Bangkok and Sydney to Heathrow and Rio; and of all airports I've operated to ORD Ground Control; in my opinion; consistently is the least safe environment.
A B737 took evasive action from a RJ taxiing at a very high speed which ORD Ground Control and Tower were not coordinating with other traffic.