"NTSB blames SWA pilots in California runway incident"

Wednesday, June 26, 2002

US blames pilots in California runway incident


WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - U.S. investigators blamed the pilots of a Southwest
Airlines (LUV) jet and air traffic control on Wednesday for a near disaster
in California two years ago in which the plane overran the runway, cut
through a fence and stopped on a street near a gas station.

Forty-three of the 142 people aboard were hurt in the March 2000 incident
that the National Transportation Safety Board blamed on excessive speed and
an improper landing approach into Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport. The
plane was heavily damaged.

The safety board said the Boeing (BA) 737-300 should have aborted its
approach to the airport in part because the aircraft had been improperly
positioned for landing by air traffic control.

Flight 1455 came in too high, too fast and too far down the runway, the
board said. Investigators concluded the aircraft never met the proper
criteria for landing.

"As a result, no safe options existed for the flight crew other than a
go-around maneuver," the safety board concluded.

Investigators also said the crew failed to apply the brakes fully after
landing. Had the two pilots done that, the plane probably would have stopped
before striking the fence, it said.

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