Nevada Aviation Attorneys

The Accident Flight Originated At McCarran International Airport LAS Las Vegas Nevada

Southwest Airlines, Inc., flight 1455, a Boeing 737-300 (737), N668SW, overran the departure end of runway 8 after landing at Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport (BUR), Burbank, California. The airplane touched down at approximately 182 knots, and about 20 seconds later, at approximately 32 knots, collided with a metal blast fence and an airport perimeter wall. The airplane came to rest on a city street near a gas station off of the airport property. Of the 142 persons on board, 2 passengers sustained serious injuries; 41 passengers and the captain sustained minor injuries; and 94 passengers, 3 flight attendants, and the first officer sustained no injuries. The airplane sustained extensive exterior damage and some internal damage to the passenger cabin. During the accident sequence, the forward service door (1R) escape slide inflated inside the airplane; the nose gear collapsed; and the forward dual flight attendant jumpseat, which was occupied by two flight attendants, partially collapsed. The flight, which was operating on an instrument flight rules flight plan, was conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 121. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the accident, which occurred in twilight lighting conditions.

According to Southwest Airlines records, the accident flight was the flight crew's first flight of what was scheduled to be a 3-day flight sequence that consisted of five flights. The accident flight originated at McCarran International Airport (LAS), Las Vegas, Nevada, and was scheduled to depart about 1445 for BUR. The first officer of the accident flight stated to National Transportation Safety Board investigators that he arrived at LAS about 1245, and the captain indicated that he arrived about 1400. The first officer reported in a postaccident interview that he met the captain on the way to the gate. Southwest Airlines records indicate that the accident airplane arrived at LAS from Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, about 1630, almost 2 hours behind schedule, because of rain and gusting winds in the LAS area. The accident flight crew indicated that the preflight inspection was normal and that no maintenance discrepancies were noted.

Flight 1455 departed the gate about 1650, more than 2 hours behind schedule. During post accident interviews, the flight crew indicated to Safety Board investigators that the takeoff and en route portions of the flight to BUR were normal and uneventful. The first officer stated that after the flight crossed the PMD  very  high  frequency omni-directional radio range (VOR)2 navigation transmitter at 8,000 feet, he obtained information Oscar from the BUR airport terminal information service (ATIS), which indicated that winds were from 260° at 18 knots, gusting to 26 knots, and that aircraft were landing on runways 33 and 26. At 1754:21, the captain stated, "plan on [runway] three three at the moment. [A]pproach descent checklist when you get the chance."

At 1802:52, the flight crew was advised by the Southern California terminal radar approach control (SCT) Woodland controller that the current ATIS was information Papa and that they should expect an instrument landing system (ILS) landing on runway 8. At 1803:29, when the airplane was about 20 nautical miles (nm) north of the BUDDE outer marker3 at an altitude of about 8,000 feet mean sea level (msl), the Woodland controller instructed flight 1455 to turn left to a heading of 190° and to descend to and maintain 6,000 feet msl. The first officer acknowledged the instructi

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