Burbank, CA: Investigators Looking at Electronic Display's Possible Role in 737 Crash Landing

Passengers Describe Quick Descent as Investigators Look at Crew's Actions

By Erica Werner

Associated Press Writer

BURBANK, Calif. (AP) - The airliner that skidded through a fence on landing and wound up on a city street had descended like a dive bomber, then touched down farther down the runway than usual, a passenger said.

Southwest Airlines Flight 1455, from Las Vegas, barreled right off the runway at Burbank-Glendale- Pasadena Airport on Sunday evening, striking a car, just missing a gas station and slightly injuring 15 of the 142 people on board.

"I felt like we were a jet bomber," passenger Kevin McCoy said Monday. "We were coming down so fast, so steep. I've never experienced an approach like that before. It was almost like a sudden dive."

Once they were on the ground, he said, the plane braked so hard that he had to dig his heels into the carpet to keep from falling forward.

Southwest CEO Herb Kelleher said the crew did not report mechanical problems during the flight.

And although a gusty storm swept through the area a few hours earlier, other jets had landed on the runway moments before the accident and none reported problems with the weather, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said.

The Boeing 737's flight data and voice recorders were taken to the NTSB's lab in Washington, D.C., for analysis. The Southwest Airlines pilot, who has flown for the Dallas-based airline since 1988, was to be interviewed today.

The Dallas Morning News reported today that officials were investigating whether a sophisticated new "heads-up" instrument display could have had any effect on how the plane was landed.

Several Southwest pilots told the newspaper that they routinely use the heads-up display while landing, particularly at night and in bad weather.

Southwest was the first major air carrier to install the displays, which are used in military fighters. The devices superimpose flight data over the pilots' view out the window so they don't have to look down at the instruments. For landing, an electronic image of the runway superimposed over the actual view can show a pilot exactly where the plane will touch down for the speed it is traveling.

Depending on weight, flap configuration and runway conditions, a Boeing 737-300 requires 3,200 feet to 4,500 feet to land, said Craig Martin, a Boeing spokesman in Seattle.

Burbank's west-to-east runway extends 6,032 feet.

"That runway is plenty long enough for a 737, if you touch down at the proper speed and in the touchdown zone - the first 1,000 feet of the runway," said Barry Schiff, a retired TWA captain and air safety consultant.

On Monday, the jetliner was towed to a secure area of the airport.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGI8NKOOJ5C.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), March 07, 2000

Answers

Related story:

Jet probe focuses on possible pilot error

Tuesday, March 07, 2000

FROM WIRE REPORTS

BURBANK, Calif. - Investigators focused on the possibility of pilot error yesterday as a battered Southwest Airlines jetliner was dragged back onto Burbank Airport property 14 hours after it skidded off a runway and onto a busy street.

Officials said the Boeing 737 may have landed too fast after a delayed but routine flight from Las Vegas. Another possibility, they said, is that the plane landed too long - not touching down until near the midpoint of the 6,032-foot runway.

Although its brakes and thrust reversers appear to have functioned properly, there apparently wasnt enough left of Runway 8 to stop the 108,000-pound plane. It hurtled past the terminal, crashed through a metal "blast fence" barrier at the end of the runway, glanced off a car on Hollywood Way and stopped just short of a service station.

Four of the 142 passengers and crew members were hospitalized with minor injuries, but all had been released by yesterday afternoon. The most seriously injured was the pilot, who suffered scalp lacerations.

Passengers said that as Flight 1455 neared Burbank about 6 p.m., the cockpit crew warned them via the intercom that the final approach might be "a bit bumpy" because of gusty winds.

Several of the passengers said the descent to the airport seemed unusually steep, and the landing seemed faster, harder, and, to some, farther down the runway than usual.

"That runway is plenty long enough for a 737, if you touch down at the proper speed and in the touchdown zone - the first 1,000 feet of the runway," said Barry Schiff, a retired TWA captain and air safety consultant.

"If youre too fast, or it looks like youre going to touch down too late, you should abort the landing and do a go-around."

Schiff, the airline and the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the accident, all stressed that it is too early to determine what went wrong. But sources close to the investigation said that at least for now, pilot error is considered the most likely cause of the accident.

Airport shuttle bus driver Abayomi Omolewu said he and two other drivers were waiting to be sent on a call when they saw the plane blast through the airport fence.

"We saw it was going to crash into the gas station and the gas station was going to get into a flame," he said yesterday. "Thats why we were like, Man, is that plane going to fall on us?"

Omolewu said he and the two other drivers ran. Omolewu turned around to grab his cell phone, but because of the smoke, he couldnt see to dial.

As the noise subsided, Omolewu and others ran toward the plane, where they helped frightened passengers climb down off the wing and off an emergency chute.

Southwest CEO Herb Kelleher said the crew did not report any mechanical problems before the accident. And although a gusty storm had swept through the area a few hours earlier, several other jets had landed on the runway moments before the accident, and none reported problems with the weather.

Jeffrey R. Rich, the NTSB investigator heading a 40-person team charged with determining the cause of the mishap, said meteorological conditions were "rather benign" as Flight 1455 approached the airport. He said there was "a bit of a tail wind," about 7 mph, but officials said that shouldnt have been enough to have caused a problem. The visibility was about nine miles.

But passenger Kevin McCoy said he knew there was something wrong as soon as the descent began.

"I felt like we were a jet bomber," said the food service executive from La Canada-Flintridge, Calif. "We were coming down so fast, so steep. Ive never experienced an approach like that before. It was almost like a sudden dive."

The plane seemed to land farther down the runway than usual, hitting hard and fast, McCoy said.

"We were really cruising," he said.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/index.ssf?/news/pd/w07plane.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), March 07, 2000.

NEWS Posted at 12:58 p.m. EST Tuesday, March 7, 2000

Passengers describe quick descent as investigators look at crew's actions BURBANK, Calif. -- (AP) -- The airliner that skidded through a fence on landing and wound up on a city street had descended like a dive bomber, then touched down farther down the runway than usual, a passenger said.

Southwest Airlines Flight 1455, from Las Vegas, barreled right off the runway at Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport on Sunday evening, striking a car, just missing a gas station and slightly injuring 15 of the 142 people on board.

``I felt like we were a jet bomber,'' passenger Kevin McCoy said Monday. ``We were coming down so fast, so steep. I've never experienced an approach like that before. It was almost like a sudden dive.''

Once they were on the ground, he said, the plane braked so hard that he had to dig his heels into the carpet to keep from falling forward.

Southwest CEO Herb Kelleher said the crew did not report mechanical problems during the flight.

And although a gusty storm swept through the area a few hours earlier, other jets had landed on the runway moments before the accident and none reported problems with the weather, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said.

The Boeing 737's flight data and voice recorders were taken to the NTSB's lab in Washington, D.C., for analysis. The Southwest Airlines pilot, who has flown for the Dallas-based airline since 1988, was to be interviewed today.

The Dallas Morning News reported today that officials were investigating whether a sophisticated new ``heads-up'' instrument display could have had any effect on how the plane was landed.

Several Southwest pilots told the newspaper that they routinely use the heads-up display while landing, particularly at night and in bad weather.

Southwest was the first major air carrier to install the displays, which are used in military fighters. The devices superimpose flight data over the pilots' view out the window so they don't have to look down at the instruments. For landing, an electronic image of the runway superimposed over the actual view can show a pilot exactly where the plane will touch down for the speed it is traveling.

Depending on weight, flap configuration and runway conditions, a Boeing 737-300 requires 3,200 feet to 4,500 feet to land, said Craig Martin, a Boeing spokesman in Seattle.

Burbank's west-to-east runway extends 6,032 feet.

``That runway is plenty long enough for a 737, if you touch down at the proper speed and in the touchdown zone -- the first 1,000 feet of the runway,'' said Barry Schiff, a retired TWA captain and air safety consultant.

On Monday, the jetliner was towed to a secure area of the airport.

http://www.herald.com/content/today/digdocs/082621.htm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 07, 2000.