Southwest jet slides off rainy runway at MDW
 

Plane skids off the runway at MDW...stuck in mud.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,3514918.story

Here's our statement:

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES RELEASES STATEMENT REGARDING FLIGHT 1919 AT CHICAGO MIDWAY

Plane Slides Off End of Runway Upon Landing; No Injuries Reported


DALLAS—April 26, 2011—Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) confirmed this afternoon that flight #1919, scheduled service from Denver to Chicago Midway, slid off a runway upon landing at Chicago’s Midway Airport. Local officials report heavy rain in the area at the time the aircraft landed.

Initial reports are that no one was injured. The passengers have been safely deplaned from the aircraft using air stairs and have been bused to the terminal. Southwest officials will be working with passengers to get them to their final destinations.

The aircraft is a Boeing 737-700.

The runways at MDW are relatively short and any slick surface minimizes the margin for error. Flare a bit too long, touch down past the 1,000 feet marker, and don't deploy reverse thrust immediately, and you run into problems.

Like the accident several years ago, I wonder if the pilots contemplated aborting the landing.

According to Wikipedia this runway has an EMAS system. Did the plane swerve before or after the EMAS? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enginee...rrestor_system

Edited--SWABrian confirmed that WN's pilots regularly use Auto braking now.

Second Southwest statement
 

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES RELEASES SECOND STATEMENT
REGARDING FLIGHT 1919 AT CHICAGO MIDWAY

Plane Exited Runway Upon Arrival; No Injuries Reported

DALLAS—April 26, 2011—Southwest Airlines’ Flight 1919 exited the runway at Chicago’s Midway Airport while landing at approximately 1:33 p.m. CT today. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-700, arrived from Denver International Airport, where it had departed at 9:56 a.m. MT.

The preliminary passenger list, still subject to verification, indicates that the aircraft carried 134 passengers, five lap children, and five crew members. Initial reports are that no one was injured. The passengers have been safely deplaned from the aircraft using air stairs and have been bused to the terminal.

Southwest officials are working with passengers to get them to their final destinations. The airline is making outreach to each Customer onboard the flight to refund their roundtrip and issue them two complimentary roundtrip passes as a gesture of goodwill.

Southwest officials are in direct contact with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as they perform an investigation into the cause of this incident.

Southwest is working aggressively to minimize Customer inconvenience at Midway Airport. Customers are encouraged to check flight status at www.southwest.com before heading to the airport. Southwest is experiencing some delays at Chicago’s Midway Airport as a result of the aircraft off the runway.

Our Pilots do use autobraking now as part of their routine operations.

Good to know!! So maybe they were in-use today and helped to keep the plane on the secure (airport) side of the burger place.

I don't know the operational details for today, but we will cooperate with any investigation.

Yes, they will have more investigating this incident. Luckily, everyone is seems okay and doesn't have to taken a locals hospitals. Thankfully, everything is okay. Do you remember what happened back in late-2005 when WN plane got skidded off the runway. The plane got hits the fence on the streets. The flight was on the way from BWI-MDW-LAS. I remember what happened the weather is not good and it was bad snowstorm in Chicago.

From your previous post before it was edited, keep in mind that the anti-lock braking mechanism (called anti-skid in the aviation industry) compliments the auto-brake system. Even with the auto-braking system disengaged, the anti-skid mechanism (if it's engaged) will try and keep the main wheels from locking up.

With the auto-brake system engaged, the brakes are automatically engaged when the wheels touch down and the throttles are set to idle. The amount (level of deceleration) of braking is also selectable, ie, 1, 2, 3, or Max.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't this same thing happened at Midway 2 other times? One of those times I know the plane tore through a wall and hit a few cars and a gas station. I thought they installed that stuff (forget what you call it), that looks like cement, but it turns to mush when the plane rolls off the runway and gets stuck in it. It is designed to slow the plane down so it doesn't go through the wall again.

If this is #3, then they really have a problem at Midway when it rains - it's called "short runways."

per Wiki, they did install an EMAS system on Runway 13C/31, which is commonly crushable cement. I really don't know what I'm looking at in the chicago tribune video so I'll be waiting until the experts chime in on whether or not the plane was slowed down by the EMAS system or if it veered off the runway a before crossing over the the EMAS

I hope the data recorders didn't get over written, which from what I read is pretty common due to the FAA allowing local storage and allowing fairly short <x> minute loop time on recordings. This is in no way specific to Southwest but with all commercial aviation... I think that if the plane was left on while passengers deplaned or while it is pulled back to the gate some data may get over written.

The one with the gas station nearby was BUR, not MDW. The gas station itself was removed a few years ago, and runway 8 there now has an EMAS installation at the end.

There are quite a few airports around the country that have EMAS installations, and they've worked pretty well at their intended function. The ones at CRW and JFK have snagged aircraft before, including 747s and MD-10s at JFK..

http://www.esco.zodiacaerospace.com/...tallations.php

It appears from the video that the plane slid off the side of the runway in a tarmac, runup area. In fact, it looks like the front and main gear are fine and the plane may need no repairs. If the aircraft had hit the EMAS system, the front landing gear would have collapsed.

maybe the pilot turned off the runway because he was scared of destroying the undercarriage in that EMAS stuff