Midway: Southwest Plane Crashes through fence.

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[sharkhawk]

A plane has apparently crashed through a fence at Midway airport in Chicago. Southwest airline 737 plane now sitting in intersection of 55th and Central. Channel 7 has confirmed, fire and ambulances on way. Details still sketchy.

[poindexter]

Hire more ex-Navy pilots.

Maybe that was the problem...he missed the three-wire!

[I Drive Too Fast]

I heard on the news that the plane hit a car killing the 6 year old.

Deborah Song, spokeswoman for Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oaklawn, said the boy, 6, was with his two younger brothers, including an infant, and his parents.

The mother, in her 30s, was in good condition, and the father, in his 40s, was in serious condition, Song said. The middle son, about 3 years of age, was in fair condition, but there was no immediate information on the condition of the infant.

[fortunecookie]

Thanks! That is all good to know. It would be pretty cool to see. I used to enjoy plane watching, even though I'm some distance from a major airport. After 9-11, it was very difficult to continue, but I still enjoy my occasional flights and airport trips.

[supercat]

If those landing fees are raised to something close to the fees at DFW, there's not much incentive for Southwest to have Wright repealed.

Sure there is. Time. At its small airports, Southwest can have a plane touchdown, taxi, park, unload, reload, taxi, and take off quickly. Indeed, Chicago-Columbus-BWI is less than an hour longer than Chicago-BWI. Big airports wouldn't work with a business model that requires rapid flight turnaround.

[fortunecookie]

I imagine it could be delayed, maybe the weather?

[supercat]

Maybe that was the problem...he missed the three-wire!

Would it be practical to have a snag-wire system as a means of stopping planes that are otherwise going to go off a runway? I know there'd be a very high likelihood of passenger injury, but it would in some cases be better than the alternative.

[Paleo Conservative]

Southwest Airlines Confirms Incident

DALLAS - Dec. 8, 2005 - Southwest Airlines' Flight 1248 veered off the runway at Chicago Midway Airport at approximately 7:15 p.m. CST onto Central and 55th Ave. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-700 was enroute from Baltimore/Washington to Chicago Midway. The aircraft departed Baltimore/Washington at 4:50 p.m. CST. The flight was expected to land at 6:30 p.m. CST. The flight circled Chicago Midway Airport landing at approximately 7:15 p.m. CST.

The preliminary passenger list indicated the aircraft carried 98 passengers with a crew of five, although this is subject to confirmation. The names of any passengers will not be released until the appropriate family members have been notified.

Southwest Airlines' officials are in direct contact with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as they perform an investigation into the cause of this accident.

A toll-free number has been established by Southwest Airlines to assist friends and family members wanting information about passengers onboard Flight 1248. That number is (800) 922-9525. Periodic updates will also be posted on the Internet at www.southwest.com.

A news advisory will be issued when a media briefing time has been determined. Subsequent briefings will be held as needed.

All flights leaving Chicago Midway Airport have been temporarily suspended/delayed. Passengers with specific questions on flights can call 1-800-435-9792 or log on to www.southwest.com for updated information.

RETURN TO SOUTHWEST AIRLINES HOME

Media Please Call: Public Relations (214) 792-4847

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[Warriormom]

I live near DFW. American Airlines has a turnaround time of 40 minutes - that's pretty fast. If Wright is repealed and American and other airlines start flying out of Love, Southwest won't be turning their flights around as quickly as they are.

[MarkL]

I just flew into LGA from Kansas City this evening, beating the storm we had yesterday (it's scheduled to arrive tomorrow.) It was a nasty storm that hit Chicago. When I got up this morning, there was 8" of snow in my driveway.

Mark

[MarkL]

Is it just me, or does it look like this plane is giving us "the finger?"

Mark

[xrp]

It isn't photoshopped. I know a couple of people who have been to St Maarten.

[xrp]

[Rte66]

Ah, Bachman Lake - at the end of the runway at Love Field. In college, we used to park out there and sometimes go over the fence and lie down on the end of the runway for the sensation of it. And planes were a LOT smaller then, a million years ago.

[Larry Lucido]

I attended the police academy there in 1986. Used to run Bachman Lake once a day. The takeoffs and landings made it more interesting. So did the sunbathers.

[Diddle E. Squat]

If Southwest is allowed to expand its traffic out of Love, with other airlines thus doing the same because Southwest refuses to fly out of the larger airport, it's just a matter of time till what we see tonight in Chicago happens in Dallas.

Baloney. Even if the idiotic Wright Amendment isn't repealed, Southwest would still fly out of Love, so increasing the number of flights only barely increases the risk of something that has only happened twice in SW Airline's HISTORY. The odds of it happening to another airline are also extremely small.

Especially considering that Love only gets ice a couple of times per year.

[Rte66]

In 1986, I would've been one of those SW passengers taking off or landing quite a few times, so I'd have waved to you! At different times in my life, my whole life revolved around Love Field and my SW Airlines pocket flight schedule.

[Rte66]

"Especially considering that Love only gets ice a couple of times per year."

Like right now?

[XHogPilot]

Would it be practical to have a snag-wire system as a means of stopping planes that are otherwise going to go off a runway?

There is a very rare system in use at civilian airports but its not a snag-wire. The best description is a paved-over gravel bed that will stop an airplane overshooting the runway. Such systems are used for runaway semi trucks in mountainous areas also. Chicago Midway Airport would be a good candidate for the system because of its very short over-run and clearway. This will almost certainly be brought up in the accident investigation.

[Warriormom]

I agree that Love doesn't ice over very often, but when it does, I sure don't want one of my children to die or be injured because some plane runs off the runway.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

http://www.flightlevel350.com/viewer.php?id=765