Jetliner reportedly slides off runway at Chicago's Midway Airport

[tritsofme]

Police responded to reports Thursday that a jetliner attempting to land slid off a runway at Midway International Airport amid heavy snow and wind.

Officers at Chicago Police Department headquarters said they could provide no additional details. Police talking over squad radios said the airplane was a 737 and that it apparently slid onto a nearby road.

Ambulances were called, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-051208midway,0,5112610.story?coll=chi-newsbreaking-hed

I've heard on local news that it skidded onto 55th and Central.

[Hyernel]

1. Was it tagged out?

Sorry....I jest in the face of tragedy. It's my way.

[merwin]

3. And the umpire shouts "Safe!"

[Don Claybrook]

2. I'm guessing it's a Southwest flight

I think Southwest is Midway's biggest carrier, and they fly only 737's.

[merwin]

6. That and the second word of the article is 'Southwest'

:-)

[Don Claybrook]

23. I guess I should click on the actual article

Oh well, it won't be the last time I look like an idiot. Thanks for the correction.

[stray cat]

4. Just heard on Coundown - everyone is fine!

[LisaL]

17. Nope. They say the person in a car that this plane run to is

seriously hurt.

[Neecy]

5. Central or Cicero?

I used to work at Midway, and this isn't good. It's a small city airport surrounded by homes and small businesses. I hope everyone is okay.

[tritsofme]

7. I've been hearing Central. nt

[tritsofme]

8. Some pictures:

[Berry Cool]

21. Actually, it WAS Cicero, not Central.

KO asked and it was confirmed.

[crispini]

9. MSNBC saying occupants of the car were seriously injured.

Pinned under the plane, apparently. :scared:

[stray cat]

10. Sounds like I spoke too soon.....

[bucknaked]

11. Must've been cleared for 22L.

Only way I can see them ending up on central ave.

Wonder what the ATIS or NOTAMs indicated tonight.

[karlrschneider]

16. I used to have to land the company plane there a lot, never much

liked it.

[maseman]

26. O'Hare

I left O'Hare this afternoon at 4:30 and the airport was certainly at minimums. Couldn't have been more then a 1/2 mile visibility. Probably 200 to 300' ceiling.

Those runways at Midway are tiny. On a good day they are tight for a fully loaded 737. But combine night, fully loaded, wind and minimums...recipe for something like this to happen.

[Jakey]

31. and not to forget...

the real potential for decreased braking action under those conditions. It will be interesting to see what the crew was anticipating and what the NTSB discovers in that regard.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

12. Air Marshalls should have shot the tires out?

:hide:

[anotherdrew]

13. sounds like the plane was acting crazy, good thing they didn't shoot it

[greatauntoftriplets]

15. It is snowing hard here tonight....

Visibility sucks.

[LisaL]

18. Yep. Looks like it's snowing like crazy.

Snow everywhere. I am sure that contributed to the crush.

[kysrsoze]

28. We got 11 inches downtown. It took people up to 4 hours to get home

Horrible weather tonight. Even cars with front-drive are sliding all over the place. I hope this is the only fatality.

[LisaL]

30. Same here in OH. Snow everywhere.

[LiberalGuy000]

14. Southwest's charmed life

Looks like Southwest can still claim that they've never had a fatal injury on a flight. Amazing, really, and this is the second time they've skidded off a runway within the last couple of years. The last time, it was at the Burbank airport, and the jet came within a few yards of crashing into a gas station.

[LisaL]

19. Unless they have killed that poor person in a car that was

pinned under that plane.

[LiberalGuy000]

20. right

But that's different. It appears that no one inside the plane died.

[LisaL]

25. Well, they did kill him. An 8 year old boy had died, according to CNN.

[LiberalGuy000]

27. INSIDE THE PLANE

I repeat: INSIDE the plane, no one died.

[LisaL]

29. When family of that boy sues the airline, do you think it's going

to matter that the boy was outside the plane?

[LiberalGuy000]

32. LOL

Nevermind. You apparently don't fully understand English, so I won't bother commenting anymore on this topic.

[meganmonkey]

43. You just totally made me laugh out loud

and I thank you for that.

Welcome to DU!!!

:toast:

[AngryAmish]

44. Actually it does

In a minor legal detail, if you are on the airplane you can sue and they have a higher standard of care because airplanes are common carriers.

I'm just being pedantic.

[Missy Vixen]

22. Landing at Burbank: Uh, no thanks

For those who don't know, the runway at Burbank is technically too short to land a jet on. As a result, when the plane lands, the pilots must stand on the brakes or something; you're thrown forward in the seat, and it's an interesting experience.

Let's just say I'm not so nuts about flying.

Julie

[LiberalGuy000]

24. I'm not nuts about it either

It's irrational, but I'd rather fly to a city that's 100 miles away from my destination if I can fly there nonstop than to fly directly to my destination with a stop somewhere along the way. Avoiding the extra take-off and landing is worth it to me.

[DemoTex]

33. Landing at Burbank: Been there, done that (as a B-737 pilot).

I have landed Boeing 737-300/400 aircraft at Burbank many times. The runway is not "technically too short to land a jet on." However, you had best be on speed (or no more than Vref+10) and on the glide-path. Southwest's Burbank runway over-run a few years back was caused by an extremely unstable approach (well above glide-slope and way above Vref). The captain's failure to initiate a go-around from such an un-stabilized approach cost him his job (as well it should have) and resulted in some much needed cultural changes at Southwest.

[saigon68]

34. Good Morning Capt Mac

[DemoTex]

45. Late: Good Morning Saigon! (I've waited for years to say that)

I was up that hour of depressing military-dawn (actually, it was dark as shit) to take Dr. D. to the airport to catch a flight to O'Hare. She worked in her Chicago office all day today. Last hour she left for London and Bangalore, India. See:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x4423047

Hang in there my friend!
Captain Mac


Catholic Mission, Cam Rahn Bay (NAF side)
My picture from 1970.

[saigon68]

46. Thanks-- take care

:-)

[Jakey]

36. Non-stabilized approach?

Demotex has correctly identified what, at this VERY preliminary stage, appears to be developing as a possible factor. I just saw a speed profile on a local station that looks ominous. The final 2 readouts (source unknown to me but I didn't see the entire report) showed 140 MPH (sic) and the final one as 180 MPH (sic). The fact that MPH was used as opposed to knots indicates a very non-professional relatement of the data (perhaps news media confusion) nor did I hear whether this was a readout of IAS (indicated airspeed) or groundspeed. However, whether indicated or actual, a 40 knot increase in speed (if accurate) at the most critical point in the approach may be telling.

[Missy Vixen]

37. Thank you, DemoTex

I stand corrected. :blush: I hope that everything is fine for you. You are still my favorite pilot! ;-)

Julie

[BlueCollar]

35. lower fares + increased competition

driving airlines to increase risk taking in order to make every flight for pennies on the dollar will inevitably lead to pushing the margins of safety, In this case I'm guesing that the landing should not have been attempted because of weather conditions.

I wonder when the ship had its last heavy maintenance check, and who it was outsourced to?

[warrens]

38. It's just Southwest's new Baltimore-55th St. nonstop flight...

[Jakey]

39. What kind of a sicko are you?

A child is dead. A family (and an entire airline) are experiencing angst that would be difficult to express in words yet you find it to be a source of amusement(and plagiarized amusement at that). Keep your day job Merl...and crawl back into the hole from whence you came.

[tilsammans]

40. Not funny . . .

What if it had been your child/loved one who died? What if you had been the pilot, having to live with that? Have some empathy, for cryin' out loud!

[CornField]

41. Midway is a tricky land in the best weather

My heart goes out to the family of that child. What a horrible accident.

[High Plains]

42. Okay, okay, a tragic incident, indeed...

But what's up with CNN? They've devoted hour upon hour of coverage to this. Last night, I would check in periodically. Yep, still snowing. Yep, plane still sitting there.

And a couple of hours more this morning, including the standard cover your ass press conference where everyone gets to stand up and say they did everything right.