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.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov