Southwest Airlines jet skids onto busy California street

Injuries minor as plane hits fence, stops near gas station BURBANK, Calif. - A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 crashed after landing at Burbank International Airport on Sunday

Monday, March 6th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Injuries minor as plane hits fence, stops near gas station

BURBANK, Calif. - A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 crashed after landing at Burbank International Airport on Sunday night, smashing through a fence, hitting a car and coming to rest at a gas station.

Officials reported that six people, including the captain, sustained minor injuries. Flight 1455 from Las Vegas to Burbank was carrying 137 passengers and five crew members, Federal Aviation Administration officials said.

It was the first major accident for Dallas-based Southwest in the airline's nearly 29-year history. Southwest personnel were working with the passengers and their families Sunday night to offer assistance.

The crash occurred at 6:11 p.m. California time at the airport northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

FAA spokesman Les Dorr said it appears that the airplane may have landed too far down the runway, which was wet from a recent rain, and slid off the end.

It smashed through a high metal barrier, crossed the traffic lanes of Hollywood Way and came to rest at a Chevron station across the street, narrowly missing gasoline tanks. It hit one car on Hollywood, but no injuries were reported.

Passengers scrambled off the plane by sliding down chutes and were wrapped in blankets while they waited on the street to be bused back to the airport terminal.

"We were going much too fast," passenger Kevin McCoy told KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. "The angle we approached was much too steep. . . . It fishtailed."
He said the passengers were in "shock more than anything."

"It was, 'Oh, my God, we're going to crash. Oh, my God, we're going to catch fire.' We were very nervous," he said. "You could smell a small amount of electrical [smoke]."

He said the crew did "a great job" in calming the passengers and helping them exit the plane.

The airplane's nosegear collapsed as it smashed through the fence. Shards of metal from the shattered barrier littered the streets. The fuselage and wing appeared to be heavily damaged. The red and orange plane came to rest at a nose-down angle, its tail dwarfing firetrucks and ambulances that filled the street behind it.

Emergency officials doused the plane for safety precautions, but there were no reports of flames. Burbank Fire Marshal Darryl Forbes said 6,000 pounds of fuel remained on the plane. A salvage crew was en route to remove the fuel, and the plane would probably remain on the street into Monday, he said.

Mr. Forbes said there was no immediate danger of an explosion. "The fuel is not leaking," he said.

Mr. Dorr said officials from the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board would investigate the accident.

The Burbank airport has a reputation among pilots as being a difficult airport to fly into because of its short runways and the location of the terminal, leaving little room for emergencies. It was flagged by the Air Line Pilots Association because of the main runway, which is 6,032 feet long, and because the terminal is less than 200 feet from the intersection of the two runways.

Burbank International Airport, which is more than 70 years old, has been the center of a fight over expansion plans for years. The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority has wanted to add a $300 million terminal and lengthen the runways, citing safety concerns. But the city of Burbank and nearby residents had opposed the proposal because of flight noise.

All Southwest flights were canceled Sunday night at the airport.

Inside the terminal, a long line of passengers stood with their bags trying to make other plans.

Lorena Monroy, 26, a mail clerk from Los Angeles, said she was in the terminal building, dropping off her boyfriend, when she saw Flight 1455 land.

"It was coming in at a great speed," she said. "It just landed too fast. . . . I looked out and I saw the people who work on the runway running toward the building. They came running inside to the emergency phones. The plane just kept going until it was out of sight."
She said she flies regularly on Southwest. "I fly every other weekend, but I'll never fly again."

Her boyfriend, Scott Juceam, 28, a collections agent from Los Angeles, was upset that he was stranded because of the crash. "Thank God I wasn't on it. It's my worst nightmare. I'm scared and nervous to begin with. This makes it worse."

He said the airline was disorganized and provided no transportation plans for the people who were going to take the next flight out.

"I'll never fly Southwest again," he said.

Within the industry, however, Southwest's safety record is almost legendary. Even for year-to-year reports of minor accidents and incidents, the airlines numbers are lower compared with other major carriers in all categories including maintenance problems, emergency landings and engine failures.
Industry experts attribute Southwest's good record to a number of factors: The airline flies only 737s, so its mechanics and pilots become especially familiar with one type of aircraft. In addition, each airplane makes 13 short flights a day, which airline officials say sharpens piloting skills. Because of its employee-friendly corporate atmosphere, the airline attracts some of the best pilots in the business, including a former space shuttle commander.

Herb Kelleher, Southwest Airlines chairman, said Sunday that the airline has flown 13 million flight hours without a fatality.
Southwest's fleet is made up of 312 Boeing 737 jets. Most have an average age of 8.3 years, according to the company's Web site.
In a separate incident Sunday, another Southwest Boeing 737 bound for Burbank was forced to return to San Jose International Airport, where it made a smooth emergency landing after one of its two engines became disabled 20 minutes after takeoff, airline officials said.

The 51 passengers and five crew members aboard Flight 1478 were rattled about 10 a.m. California time by a loud boom and sudden turbulence that followed the engine failure.

No injuries were reported.

Most passengers chose to take Southwest's 11:30 a.m. flight to Burbank.

The 737 is designed to fly on one engine in emergencies. "I have goose bumps all over," a shaken William Neeley, of Cupertino, Calif., said as he stepped off the plane. "You never know if you're going to be around the next day."

Mr. Neeley, who was sitting in the aisle behind the left wing of the plane, said he saw flames shoot out from the engine's exhaust. "The plane shook like hell," he said.

The jet took off at 9:40 a.m. and was beginning its ascent above the clouds when a sharp blast came from the aircraft's left engine, passengers said.

Sekeena Kimbrough, who was returning home to Los Angeles, said the turbulence woke up her 14-month-old son, who was asleep in her arms.

"Everything was going fine, and then you heard this big boom," she said as she waited to board Southwest's 11:30 a.m. flight. "After it happened, no one was talking . . . people were just in shock."

The blast was powerful but brief, passengers said, and failed to shake luggage out of the overhead compartments. While some aboard the plane appreciated the flight crew's handling of the situation, others felt it took too long - about five minutes - to learn what happened.

"They apologized to us for not talking to us sooner," said Marilyn Mohr, of Santa Cruz, Calif.

Airport police and fire rescue crews were on alert as the plane landed.

Immediate inspections of the plane could not determine the cause of the problem. The damaged engine was replaced Sunday afternoon and shipped to Dallas for further inspection, said Beth Harbin, a Southwest spokeswoman.

"The pilot felt a vibration, lights came on to indicate there was a problem, and the engine shut itself down," Ms. Harbin said. "A 737 is perfectly capable of flying with one engine, but as a precaution he turned the plane around."

The Associated Press and Knight Ridder Newspapers contributed to this report.