Midway: Southwest Plane Crashes through fence.

WBBM | WBBM

[sharkhawk]

A plane has apparently crashed through a fence at Midway airport in Chicago. Southwest airline 737 plane now sitting in intersection of 55th and Central. Channel 7 has confirmed, fire and ambulances on way. Details still sketchy.

[oceanview]

CNN all over this now.

[Chi-townChief]

Nope; the NE corner. Giordano's Pizza is on the SW corner.

[tortoise]

I doubt there were serious injuries or deaths on the plane; I think the question is whether anyone driving on the road the plane stopped on was hurt.

Heh. I guess that doesn't count against their perfect fatality record for over 30 years and almost 10 million flights. Though it is only a matter of time.

(Their flawless flight record in this regard is pretty interesting. No major airline with that much flight history can touch it; probably an indirect endorsement for the design of the 737.)

[mhking]

So the White Castle is at the Southwest Corner on the last map I posted?

Southeast corner - 63rd and Cicero.

[mhking]

I could have sworn it was on the Cicero side.

[cibco]

"What is up with Fox? It's like if nuclear war broke out in primetime, all we'd get was a crawl under O'Reilly."

Why is there no coverage about the ice storm in S Dakota? They have huge problems there.

[C210N]

This is a good place and time for a "405 The Movie" plug.

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[mhking]

No major airline with that much flight history can touch it

Qantas...(but besides them, I'd agree with you)

[xrp]

I fly into Midway on Southwest Airlines all the time. I think the longest runway is 6100 feet. I pray EVERY time the plane I am on is on approach to Midway.

[Moose4]

There were no fatalities in that Burbank overrun?

}:-)4

[mhking]

This is a good place and time for a "405 The Movie" plug.

[CALawyer]

....and the only thing keeping them profitable is their fuel hedging."

You may be right that Southwest could face some upcoming labor unrest. After all, they are unionized. However, the fuel hedging strategy has allowed Southwest to dictate the setting of domestic airfares. If Southwest were not hedged as such, they would simply charge higher fares and would still remain profitable. They are in a position to do so.

The other carriers have had no choice but to match Southwest's fares, even if it means figuratively running their airlines into the ground (but not through the fence at the end of the runway).

[rasblue]

Thats a pretty short runway they have over at Midway. I think the FAA even has special rules for landing at Midway such as reduced plane weight, lower landing speed, etc.

[Moose4]

If I saw an L-1011 getting ready to take off out of Midway, I wouldn't know whether to cover my eyes so I wouldn't see the crash, or watch so I could get interviewed on TV. That must've been scary as all get-out...6500' is not much runway for a beast like that!

}:-)4

[mhking]

OK - I've got some pics from the scene...no commentators though; I'm streaming from 11alive.com

[Heatseeker]

Why is there no coverage about the ice storm in S Dakota? They have huge problems there.

That one is understandable from a media point-of-view. SD votes heavily Republican in presidential elections so the heck with them. But Chicago and Baltimore have lots of Democrats. /s

[Petronski]

Southeast side

[oceanview]

LaGuardia in NYC is bad too - the end of the runway is in the water. I remember being on an L1011 coming into LaG, and I thought it was an awfully big plane to be going into LaG. SO I asked the stewardess, "can a plane this big land at LaGuradia". Her response - "I think so". real comforting.

[mhking]

If I saw an L-1011 getting ready to take off out of Midway,

I don't ever remember seeing anything that big fly into/out of Midway myself...

[NRA2BFree]

NAh. This will be in Fox News Alerts for the next 4 hours.

You mean the next four days, don't you? ;o)