Jet Slides Off Runway at Chicago’s Midway Airport, Hits Car
A Southwest Airlines flight from Baltimore skidded off the runway upon landing at Chicago’s Midway Airport, crashing into a vehicle on the ground.
Jet Slides Off Runway at Chicago’s Midway (AP)
A Southwest Airlines flight from Baltimore to Chicago slid off a runway at Midway International Airport and onto a nearby street as it attempted to land amid heavy snow and wind, authorities said Thursday. Although there were no immediate reports of injuries on the plane, at least one person was seriously hurt in a vehicle on the ground, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford told WMAQ-TV.
The accident happened about 7:15 p.m. [Central time -ed.] when Southwest Flight 1248 inbound from Baltimore slid off the runway, crashed through the airport’s boundary fence and stopped on part of Central Avenue, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s regional office in Chicago. A man who identified himself as an aircraft mechanic at Midway told WBBM-AM that the plane’s nose gear had collapsed, at least one of the engines was damaged and the jet appeared to have been hit by a vehicle.
Yikes.
I’ve just turned on the news to CNN and the snowfall is quite heavy. Indeed, I’m a bit surprised planes were allowed to land in this weather.
Update: WMAQ’s coverage is more extensive.
An EMS Plan 2 was called and emergency vehicles responded to a jetliner attempting to land that slid off a runway at Midway International Airport amid heavy snow and wind. The jet was landing on a runway at Midway when it skidded through a fence at the southwest corner of the airport, coming to rest on Central Avenue near 55th Street. At least one car was hit by the plane. Larry Langford, spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department, said there are two serious injuries in that automobile. The vehicle was lodged under the aircraft following the accident. A second vehicle was also involved, according to Langford.
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Firefighters were assisting people who might have been injured on the street, she said, and NBC5 learned that emergency crews were removing a victim from the passenger’s side of a car involved in the collision. Langford said that there was no fire involved in the collision, although there was a small fuel leak. That leak, he said, was quickly contained. Langford said that 55th Street will be shut down for a long while as the accident is investigated.
Update: Various media reports say a young boy in one of the cars was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. From the AP:
A jetliner trying to land in heavy snow slid off a runway, crashed through a fence and slid into a busy street, hitting one vehicle and pinning another beneath it. A 6-year-old boy was killed. At least 10 people were injured, authorities said. Eight people of the injured were on the ground. Two passengers on the plane suffered minor injuries, Aviation Department spokeswoman Wendy Abrams said.
[…]
he airport was shut down, with no estimate when it would reopen.
All the injured on the ground were in the two vehicles, officials said. The 6-year-old was dead when he arrived at a hospital; two adults and two other children were hospitalized, their conditions ranging from serious to good, said Advocate Christ Medical Center spokeswoman Deborah Song. A nursing supervisor at Little Company of Mary Hospital said an 8-year-old girl was being treated there late Thursday night.
Apparently a rather serious injury to the person in the car. That must have been an unbelievable sight to see a 737 bearing down on you.