MDW Runway Slicker Than Pilots Were Told -Report
03-02-2006, 05:47 AM
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MDW Runway Slicker Than Pilots Were Told -Report
Chicago Runway Was Slicker Than Pilots Were Told -Report
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
March 2, 2006 9:02 a.m.
--
CHICAGO (AP)--The surface of a runway at Chicago's Midway Airport was slicker than pilots were told the night a jet slid off the snowy airstrip and into a busy street last December, killing a six-year-old boy, according to a report published Thursday.
A USA Today analysis that used a physics formula and accident evidence from federal investigators determined that conditions on the runway were "poor at best," the newspaper reported.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators said air traffic controllers reported conditions that were fair for most of the runway and poor at the end the night of Dec. 8, when a Southwest Airlines jet from Baltimore landed in a snowstorm, skidded off the end of the runway and into traffic. The plane crushed a car, killing six-year-old Joshua Woods of Leroy, Ind., who was riding inside.
Though Midway had about seven inches of snow at the time, airport officials said after the accident that conditions had been acceptable.
The newspaper said its analysis was based on a physics calculation that used the plane's speed and the distance it traveled on the ground, coupled with accident data from the NTSB. It said the formula was verified by two aeronautics researchers, at UCLA and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Midway spokeswoman Wendy Abrams said airport workers used two federally approved machines to determine runway conditions that night, the newspaper said.
The NTSB continues to investigate the accident. Investigators previously have said that a tail wind contributed to the accident because it caused the plane to land faster than normal.
Also, flight recorder data showed that the plane's thrust reversers didn't deploy until 18 seconds after landing, according to the NTSB. That's more than 10 seconds beyond normal deployment, according to aviation experts.
The NTSB in January said the effect of the thrust reversers shouldn't have been factored into the pilot's calculation when estimating how long it would take to stop during a snowstorm.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-...2.html?mod=air
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
March 2, 2006 9:02 a.m.
--
CHICAGO (AP)--The surface of a runway at Chicago's Midway Airport was slicker than pilots were told the night a jet slid off the snowy airstrip and into a busy street last December, killing a six-year-old boy, according to a report published Thursday.
A USA Today analysis that used a physics formula and accident evidence from federal investigators determined that conditions on the runway were "poor at best," the newspaper reported.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators said air traffic controllers reported conditions that were fair for most of the runway and poor at the end the night of Dec. 8, when a Southwest Airlines jet from Baltimore landed in a snowstorm, skidded off the end of the runway and into traffic. The plane crushed a car, killing six-year-old Joshua Woods of Leroy, Ind., who was riding inside.
Though Midway had about seven inches of snow at the time, airport officials said after the accident that conditions had been acceptable.
The newspaper said its analysis was based on a physics calculation that used the plane's speed and the distance it traveled on the ground, coupled with accident data from the NTSB. It said the formula was verified by two aeronautics researchers, at UCLA and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Midway spokeswoman Wendy Abrams said airport workers used two federally approved machines to determine runway conditions that night, the newspaper said.
The NTSB continues to investigate the accident. Investigators previously have said that a tail wind contributed to the accident because it caused the plane to land faster than normal.
Also, flight recorder data showed that the plane's thrust reversers didn't deploy until 18 seconds after landing, according to the NTSB. That's more than 10 seconds beyond normal deployment, according to aviation experts.
The NTSB in January said the effect of the thrust reversers shouldn't have been factored into the pilot's calculation when estimating how long it would take to stop during a snowstorm.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-...2.html?mod=air
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