All
← Back to Squawk list
Southwest slides off runway at Midway, no injuries
No injuries were reported when a Southwest Airlines plane slid off a runway at Midway Airport and into a patch of mud this afternoon, officials said. The plane, Flight 1919 from Denver, was carrying 140 passengers and crew, according to Chicago Department of Aviation spokeswoman Karen Pride and fire department officials. (www.chicagotribune.com) More...
Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
[http://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA1919/history/20110426/1555Z/KDEN/KMDW http://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA1919/history/20110426/1555Z/KDEN/KMDW]
White Castle anyone?
Glad everyone is okay. The interviewed passenger doesn't seem to be a little off the deep-end though. Purposefully leaving water on the runway? I don't think you're going to find that in an airport operations manual. Sounds like heavy rain overwhelmed drainage systems. How he can blame that on the airport, I have no idea.
why did this happen?
Quote from article:
Moelter, who was flying back to the area after visiting family in Denver, Colo., faulted airport officials for not properly dealing with the rain.
"Why they didn't let the water run off the runway or run something on the runway to get the water off, I'll never know. It was pretty stupid," he said. "We almost died."
What exactly does he want the airport to use, a giant squeegee?
And I certainly hope the passenger who believes the pilot intentionally ran off the runway is wrong. Wouldn't it have been better to stay on the runway and then use the EMAS pad at the end (installed after the fatal overrun accident in 2005) to stop the aircraft?
Finally, a question about runway selection since I'm not too familiar with KMDW. According to FlightAware, the wind at the time of the accident (1:35 pm) was roughly 210°-220° at 10-12 knots, with a ceiling of roughly 3400 ft and no precipitation. I know 13C has an ILS approach, but wouldn't the VOR/DME RNAV - GPS approach into 22L be acceptable? The available lengths for landing are almost the same -- 5812 ft for 22L vs. 6059 ft for 13C. So why not use 22L (where the wind would be almost directly on the nose) instead of 13C (where the wind was almost exactly 90° from the heading)?
Moelter, who was flying back to the area after visiting family in Denver, Colo., faulted airport officials for not properly dealing with the rain.
"Why they didn't let the water run off the runway or run something on the runway to get the water off, I'll never know. It was pretty stupid," he said. "We almost died."
What exactly does he want the airport to use, a giant squeegee?
And I certainly hope the passenger who believes the pilot intentionally ran off the runway is wrong. Wouldn't it have been better to stay on the runway and then use the EMAS pad at the end (installed after the fatal overrun accident in 2005) to stop the aircraft?
Finally, a question about runway selection since I'm not too familiar with KMDW. According to FlightAware, the wind at the time of the accident (1:35 pm) was roughly 210°-220° at 10-12 knots, with a ceiling of roughly 3400 ft and no precipitation. I know 13C has an ILS approach, but wouldn't the VOR/DME RNAV - GPS approach into 22L be acceptable? The available lengths for landing are almost the same -- 5812 ft for 22L vs. 6059 ft for 13C. So why not use 22L (where the wind would be almost directly on the nose) instead of 13C (where the wind was almost exactly 90° from the heading)?
I think there was a glitch in the article, flight 1919 from Denver to MDW was a boeing 737-300. To the passenger who said they almost died:The pilot with thousands of hours of experience was ahead of the aircraft, he knew he wouldn't be able to brake in time. He was determined to prevent what occurred on 2005 from happening again and decided to go into the grass, which I believe was a smart move. The wall is literally right at the end of the runway(flew to the airport twice) and would have increased risk of injuring someone due to the aircraft's momentum and high velocity.
