Posted on 12/15/2005 6:50:13 PM PST by rawhide
CHICAGO - A jetliner that skidded off a landing strip and into a city street needed about 800 more feet of runway to come to a safe stop, federal investigators said Thursday. The Southwest Airlines jet crushed a car, killing a 6-year-old boy, after it skidded off a 6,500-foot runway and crashed through a fence at Midway International Airport earlier this month.
A preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board shows the airplane touched down with about 4,500 feet of runway remaining, but snowy conditions and other factors meant the plane ideally needed about 5,300 feet of runway, according to a report released Thursday.
The Southwest Airlines jet crushed a car, killing a 6-year-old boy, after it skidded off a 6,500-foot runway and crashed through a fence at Midway International Airport earlier this month.A preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board shows the airplane touched down with about 4,500 feet of runway remaining, but snowy conditions and other factors meant the plane ideally needed about 5,300 feet of runway, according to a report released Thursday.
Jim Hall, a former NTSB chairman not involved in the investigation, said the pilots landed the plane too late.
"You can come to the conclusion that the plane landed long. It touched down too far down the runway," he said.
The jet's actual stopping distance was about 5,000 feet, the NTSB report said. A tail wind contributed to the accident because it caused the plane to land faster than normal, according to the report.
Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Beth Harbin declined comment on the NTSB's findings. ...(continued below)
Didn't something like that happen at LaGuardia years ago?
Genius. Pure genius.
He sure the hell is.....Very bad and seedy....
This is a very tragic case, landing in the snow is hard.
What a slime
I'm guessing that was the exact thought running through the pilot's head at the time.
Oh good grief- I do not work for the NTSB and I knew 2 minutes after hearing about this that the airplane needed more runway. The first clue: a plane rolling well past the runway and into traffic.
NTSB: TALK ABOUT STATING THE OBVIOUS!
If you were holding a sure thang meal ticket, you'd be anxious too. Remember one third is the usual take and I'd say they're good for a few million at least. If it was me, I'd sue too though.
Yes when the runway was iced up.
>>Have you ever flown into Midway? The approach is pretty scary.<<
The approach is pretty normal, but the airport is an X crammed into a box with city streets and low buildings on all sides. It is like landing in a hole, and especially looks like it at night.
http://www.naco.faa.gov/d-tpp/0513/00081AD.PDF
ILS to 31C
http://www.naco.faa.gov/d-tpp/0513/00081ILD31C.PDF
Operating in/out of MDW is a lot less scary than say Reagan. See the River Visual approach into Reagan (DCA) runway 19.
http://www.naco.faa.gov/d-tpp/0513/00443RIVER_VIS19.PDF
Or worse, Jackson Hole, WY, where the clouds have rocks in them:
http://www.naco.faa.gov/d-tpp/0513/00504IL19.PDF
<< Have you ever flown into Midway? The approach is pretty scary. >>
Only for some.
Unfortunately, in this case, two of them were the low-bidders/quota hires in the Southwest pilot costumes who were occupying the seats in the pointy bit at the front of the aeroplane.
The seats, that is, that in the good old days, before pc beancounters ran airlines, were reserved for pilots.
The feds can legislate safety laws by the reams, but they allow thousands of air passengers to fly into these small deathtrap airports that were built in the 1940s for propeller-driven planes! There was an accident at Midway on Dec. 8, 1976, that killed over forty people, but nothing was done about the airport. Here is a plain case where eminent domaine should be used to clear out enough streets and buildings to land a plane safely on a frozen runway, or Midway should be closed to commercial jet traffic. Shame on the NTSB and the DOT for not taking care of this decades ago.
Ya think?
<< That's right {The pilot] landed long. If the touchdown zone markings were not obscurred by snow [He] would realize it, and idealy (sic) go-around. >>
"Ideally" doesn't enter into the calculation.
You are right of course. I was softening my criticism.
LOL (pointy end of the airplane),
Further bad news, I hear Captain upgrade at Southwest is only approx 2 years now due to the expansion. You used to have to wait over 8-14 years to upgrade (12 for me), and that experience watching senior Captains perform is invaluable!
too much typing how about "Reagan National"?
Have you flown into Dulles lately? At least I cracked up everyone on the bus from Metal Shed, I mean Concourse G with joke, "In Soviet Russia, airline rides you!".
I remember the reaction one city got when they tried to put M.L. King Dr. on the signs because Dr. Martin Luther King Drive was too long for the standard sign blanks. If the MLK fans can raise a fuss about that, I should be able to complain if Ronald Reagan's name isn't set forth in full. (And you, of course can react as I did to the sign controversy.) Have a good day.
Runway behind you
Altitude above you
And fuel you have dumped
They could have put "Martin Luther Dr" on the signs, been alright by me....
Been a few months, fly into RR National more; but I am going into Dulles this week. Don't mind it, long runways! My Airport Shiesse list is topped my Mexico City. Midway is on the list.
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