Light poles, utility lines and other obstacles prevent planes from using the first 696 feet of the already short runway at Midway where a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 skidded and crashed in a swirling snowstorm last week, city and federal officials said Tuesday.
Landing a big plane on the remaining section of the 6,522-foot runway requires precision even in good weather. But touching down safely in sloppy, icy conditions on Midway’s Runway 31 Center, where the accident occurred, tests the abilities of an airline’s best pilots, according to veteran aviators.
And the captain of Southwest Flight 1248 had only 5,826 feet of the 6,522-foot runway to stop because the landing spot starts only at the 696-foot mark.
Swept along by a gusting tailwind while being told by air-traffic control that the aircraft’s braking ability on the runway was dicey, the captain descended fast Thursday, according to an account culled from radar tapes under review by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Data from the onboard flight recorder indicate that the plane touched down harder than normal–reflecting an apparent attempt by the captain to hit the intended runway-landing markings dead-on so the maximum amount of remaining runway was available to stop the plane. The hard landing also explains the previously reported bounce that the plane made before sliding across the concrete, crashing through barriers after racing through the runway protection zone and exiting the airport.
“When you break out of the clouds on a snowy night like that, you don’t try to do a nice squeaky smooth landing. You plant the plane down onto the runway,” said Robert Mark of Evanston, a former airline and corporate pilot who flew for the original Midway Airlines.
The Southwest plane came to rest on Central Avenue after hitting several vehicles and spearing a fire hydrant. A child inside one of the cars was killed, and 10 others were injured in the worst accident in Southwest Airlines history.
Federal investigators who are re-creating the flight’s events say they don’t know yet whether the captain hit the landing mark–696 feet from the edge of the runway–or floated further down the runway before touching down.
“We expect to have the information soon,” said Keith Holloway, a spokesman for the safety board. “A lot of issues involving the runway and runway safety are being looked at.”
Midway air-traffic controllers told investigators that blowing snow prevented them from seeing where the plane landed on the runway.
