Will Be Open To The Public, And Available On Webcast
The National
Transportation Safety Board has just announced the board will hold
a two-day public hearing as part of its ongoing investigation into
the runway overrun of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 at Chicago
Midway Airport. The hearing will convene at 9:00 am on
Tuesday, June 20, 2006, at the NTSB's Board Room and Conference
Center 429 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC.
"Having a hearing to discuss the various issues surrounding this
accident is extremely important at this stage of the
investigation," said NTSB Acting Chairman Mark Rosenker, who will
chair the hearing. "Through this hearing, the public will
have an opportunity to hear from experts who deal with these issues
on a daily basis."
As was reported by Aero-News,
Southwest Airlines flight 1248 landed on runway 31C at Chicago's
Midway Airport on December 8, 2005. The runway was
contaminated with snow. The airplane departed the end of the runway
and rolled through a blast fence, a perimeter fence and then into
traffic on an off-airport street. The airplane came to a stop after
impacting one car, which resulted in the death of a child passenger
in one of the vehicles. The airplane was substantially damaged.
As part of the continuing fact-finding phase of this
investigation, the NTSB intends to further develop during the
hearing information regarding the measurement of runway friction
and the methods used to relay runway friction estimates to landing
flight crews; runway safety areas at Midway Airport and other
airports with land use constraints; and Boeing 737 landing data
that take into account the use of thrust reversers.
Questioning the
witnesses will be the Board of Inquiry, chaired by Acting Chairman
Rosenker, a technical panel of NTSB investigators, and
representatives of the following parties to the hearing: Southwest
Airlines Company; Southwest Airlines Pilots Association; Boeing
Commercial Airplane Company; the City of Chicago, IL; and the
Federal Aviation Administration.
Information from the hearing will be used by the Safety Board to
prepare a final report on the accident, including safety
recommendations aimed at preventing similar accidents in the
future.
An agenda for the hearing will be posted on the Board's website
when available. The hearing will be webcast on the Board's website
at the NTSB's website.