NTSB To Examine 'Universe' Of SWA Accident

CHICAGO -- Federal investigators held a news conference Friday evening regarding the crash of Southwest Flight 1248, as the Boeing 737 jetliner remained where it came to a stop on Thursday night, at the intersection of Central Avenue and 55th Street in Chicago.

WMAQ-TV in Chicago reported that the plane will not be removed from the scene until Saturday or possibly Sunday. A National Transportation Safety Board official said that it would be removed using a sling strapped around the fuselage and towed into an ATA hangar.

The cockpit and voice recorders were sent to Washington, D.C., for review on Friday, but the NTSB said that the investigation could take up to a year.

WMAQ-TV said that there are many questions that need to be answered: Was the accident weather-related, was it pilot error or was it something totally different?

A federal team gathered in Chicago and has only begun to tackle those questions and many more.

Federal investigators will look at every aspect of the crash, from the aircraft to the crew to the controllers in the tower, and the horrific weather conditions in which the landing was attempted, WMAQ-TV said.

Speaking at a news conference near Midway, NTSB member Ellen Engleman Conners said Friday was only Day 1 of the investigation, and a lot of work remained for investigators.

The investigation would include not only the aircraft itself, but also flight data recorders, maintenance records, pilots, weather, engines, and ground conditions, she said.

Initial data collected from the flight data recorder showed that the airplane had an air speed of 124 knots, or 143 mph, as it was approaching the runway for landing, Conners said.

As it touched down, the ground speed was about 132 knots, or 152 mph, she said.

As the plane went through the barrier, the ground speed was 40 knots, she said. She could not immediately translate that into miles per hour.

An initial review of a recorder retrieved from the cockpit showed the pilots were in normal conversation before touching down on runway 31-center, Conners said. No problems were recorded before landing, she said.

The aircraft is almost brand-new, delivered to Southwest Airlines in July 2004. Rogers reported that it had 2,898 takeoffs and landings and was flown about 5,300 hours.

Its last maintenance check was just two days ago, he said.

The 59-year-old captain had more than 12 years with Southwest; his first officer has been with the airline for 2½ years. The flight was the first flight of the day for both pilots.

The company's CEO said that this is the first accident with a fatality in the airline's history.

NTSB investigators were expected to remain at Midway for five to six days or more as they focused on data collection and conducting interviews, she said.

Southwest Airlines officials and pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, and the passengers of the flight are still to be interviewed, she said.

In addition, Boeing and General Electric Engines representatives would be interviewed, along with Midway air traffic controllers and employees of the FAA and the city Department of Aviation, Conners said.

She described the NTSB investigation as examining the entire "universe" of the accident, she said.

Boy Killed In Accident

Meanwhile, Midway Airport resumed full operations. There were long lines and piles of luggage Friday morning, but departure boards listed most flights as on time.

The jet was trying to land at Midway Airport in a snowstorm when it slid off the end of a runway and slammed into a busy city street.

("Doozy" of a snowstorm moves east.)

The Boeing 737 hit one vehicle and pinned another beneath it. A 6-year-old boy in the car was killed.

The crash also injured 10 other people, including two on the plane. It was the first fatal crash in the airline's 35-year history, and Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said he was going to Chicago to help answer questions about what caused it.

The boy was dead on arrival at Advocate Christ Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Deborah Song said. Two adults and two other children were at the hospital, their conditions ranging from serious to good, she said.

A nursing supervisor at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, Ill., said an 8-year-old girl was being treated there late Thursday night.

Passenger Mike Abate, 35, of suburban Milwaukee said after the landing he saw a father carrying an injured child and other people being taken away in an ambulance.

"That was the toughest part. We were safe on the plane, but the toughest part was to realize that someone was under the belly of the plane," Abate said.

The Southwest Airlines 737 skidded through a fence at the southwest corner of the airport, coming to rest on Central Avenue near 55th Street. At least one car was struck by the plane and was lodged under the aircraft's front end. The incident occurred at approximately 7:20 p.m. The plane will remain at that intersection overnight, WMAQ-TV in Chicago reported.

The plane was apparently unable to stop in the heavy snow. At the time the accident happened, the winds were blowing out of the east, and so the airplane had a tailwind, which is not ideal for landing conditions. Visibility at the time was almost zero for the people in the control tower, which is not an unusual situation, WMAQ-TV reported. Controllers didn't know that the plane had slid off the runway until the pilot radioed them to tell the tower.

At a news conference in Dallas, Kelly said the jetliner's captain had been flying for about a decade and the first officer had about 2½ years' experience. He did not name them.

Southwest flies an all-737 fleet with more than 400 aircraft.

National Transportation Safety Board and FAA officials from Washington were on the way to Chicago to investigate.

Larry Langford, spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department, said a second vehicle was also involved in the accident, but appeared to be off to the side of the road.

Langford reported that passengers from the plane were taken off and brought to warming buses by 7:50 p.m.

A witness said that the entire jet went through the fence and onto the roadway.

A passenger aboard the plane, identified as "Katie," told WMAQ-TV that everyone on the plane was calm during the ordeal.

"We were just landing; we were in a holding pattern because there was a lot of snow on the runway," she said. "It was a little bit rough, but it was nothing out of the ordinary ... it got really bumpy and then we heard a crashing sound, and the next thing I knew, it looked like we were in the middle of an intersection."

"We were in line for an approach with other planes," said another passenger. "They landed first, and I guess ice had built up on the runway. We came in, we landed, we ran out of runway and hit the wall."

WMAQ-TV reported that the runway was more a mile long, which is usually more than enough runway to land a plane. The braking action, however, was described as being fair to good, which would have been transmitted to the pilots, the station reported.

The aircraft was identified as Southwest Flight 1248, arriving in Chicago from Baltimore with 98 passengers onboard.

Firefighters were assisting people who might have been injured on the street, she said, and WMAQ-TV reported that emergency crews were removing a victim from the passenger's side of a car involved in the collision.

The accident occurred 33 years to the day after a crash at Midway that killed 45 people, two of them on the ground.

In that crash, the pilot of United Airlines Flight 533 was instructed by the control tower to execute a "missed approach" pattern. The pilot applied full power to go around for another landing attempt.

A little more than a mile from the airport, the airliner struck tree branches, then hit the roofs of a number of neighborhood bungalows before plowing into a home, bursting into flames. Eighteen passengers survived.

Those with inquiries regarding passengers on the plane can call 1-(800)-922-9525.