All 150 On Board Evacuated The Airplane After Nose Gear Collapsed On Landing

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating Monday's nose-down landing of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

The accident occurred at 5:45 p.m. Monday after the twin-engine jet’s nose landing gear collapsed rearward and upward into the fuselage, damaging the electronics bay, which houses avionics and other equipment. The exterior of the airplane was also damaged from sliding 2,175 feet on its nose along Runway 4 before coming to rest, off to the right side of the runway.

Southwest flight 345 originated in Nashville. All 145 passengers and five crew members evacuated the airplane, with nine being treated for minor injuries. The airplane’s slides deployed normally.

The NTSB deployed an investigator to LaGuardia shortly after the accident to coordinate the on-scene activities and document the airplane’s damage. Dennis Jones will serve as the Investigator-In-Charge, and he will be supported by other NTSB personnel.

Tuesday afternoon, the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were recovered and sent to the NTSB laboratory in Washington for downloading and analysis. As the investigation moves forward, the NTSB will interview the pilots, collect witness accounts and any video or photo evidence of the accident, review relevant records and may test materials in its laboratory.

(Image from YouTube video posted by MyFoxNY)

FMI: www.faa.gov