Southwest Airlines Flight 1455 - NTSB Accident Summary

NTSB Accident Summary

The SWA Boeing 737-3T5, overran the end of Runway 8 while landing at Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport. "The airplane touched down at approximately 182 knots, and about 20 seconds later, at approximately 32 knots, collided with a metal blast fence and an airport perimeter wall." It finally came to rest on Hollywood Way, a four-lane city street, near a Chevron gas station.

The NTSB concluded that the probable cause for the accident was excessive flight speed and the steep angle of the glidepath (7 degrees, as opposed to the 3 degrees normally used for both visual and instrument approaches), and the flight crew's failure to abort the approach when conditions were not met for a stable approach and landing. The action of the flight controller was listed as a contributing factor in the accident: "Contributing to the accident was the controller's positioning of the airplane in such a manner as to leave no safe options for the flight crew other than a go-around maneuver."

Months later, the pilots were fired as a result of this incident. Southwest Airlines admitted the pilots' actions were negligent.

At the time, a Southwest spokesperson termed it "the worst accident" in the airline's history. Air safety experts and pilots suggested the accident was an example of a situation where "fast, steep, unstabilized approaches" are dangerous, and of how inadequate the safety margins around the Burbank runways are (as well as similar U.S. airports).

The gas station missed by the aircraft was later closed and demolished due to safety concerns. The lot is now a dedicated green space.