Seeking Answers In Midway Crash
CBS News correspondent Bob Orr explores the possible explanations for the recent airplane crash in Chicago, Ill., in which a six-year-old boy was killed after jetliner overshot a runway and slid into a busy street.
It will take a year or so before federal investigators tell us what chain of events came together to cause the runway crash in Chicago. It's a good bet a slushy runway and a tricky tailwind will get part of the blame. Midway's short landing strip and the airport's lack of a safety buffer zone will be rapped as well.
But, many of the answers, I suspect, will come from inside the cockpit. Investigators have already quizzed the pilots about their decision-making and actions leading up to the moment the Boeing 737 crashed through a fence and into a couple of cars on a neighborhood street. Sadly, the accident killed a little boy and hurt ten others.
The pilots have told investigators everything was normal on approach and the cockpit voice tape shows they had no real concerns about the snowy weather and blotchy visibility. The pilots apparently never even discussed aborting the landing. Some may ask, "why not?"
Other planes, including a larger B-757, had just landed on the same runway with no problems. But, visibility was diminishing and a seven mile per hour tailwind would make the landing on a 6,500 foot runway more challenging than most. The wind at your back always requires more room to stop.
The pilots have told investigators they wanted as much control of the jet as they could have. Instead of using the jet's auto-braking system — similar to the anti-lock brakes on your car — the pilots chose to apply the brakes manually.
They did. But, the plane, which touched down a little faster than it should have, did not slow down quickly enough. Pilots say they had trouble getting the thrust reversers to work. If you've ever sat next to an airplane window, reversers are the big engine sleeves which slide open, on landing, and choke off the plane's propulsion. If that's too technically mind-boggling, simply understand the reversers need to work in tandem with brakes, spoilers and flaps or the plane won't stop before the concrete runs out.
A detailed analysis of the so-called black boxes will tell us when the pilots tried to activate the reversers and when they actually opened. And that will allow investigators to determine if the plane itself will get part of the blame.
Assessing the pilots' roles in the accident will be more difficult. Crews frequently bristle when crashes are blamed on "pilot error." In their defense, it's almost never that simple. But, in crashes, pilots and their actions are part of the chain of events. What pilots do, and sometimes what they don't do, affect the outcome. Even when they do their jobs, and some mechanical system fails, pilots are expected to save the day.
There's no evidence that the pilots of Southwest 1248 did anything wrong on that snowy night in Chicago. But, there's still a question about whether they did everything right. That's a high bar. But, flying a plane loaded with 103 people is no small responsibility.
By Bob Orr