AVIATION/ NTSB UPDATES ON SOUTHWEST FL519

The NTSB has released its Factual Report into an incident involving a SOUTHWEST AIRLINES Boeing 737 on May 12, 2009. On that date, Flight 519 was on Domestic Service from New Orleans, Lousiana, to Houston Hobby in Texas, with 48 passengers and 5 crew members onboard. Upon touchdown on runway 22 at Hobby, 3 of the 4 tires on the right main landing gear blew. While the aircraft was rolling out, the tower notified the crew of smoke coming from the right main gear and that a fire had broken out. The crew stopped on the runway and ordered an immediate evacuation of the 737. Emergency Services responded and extinguished the fire. Of those onboard, 2 adults suffered minor injuries in the evacuation. The CVR and FDR were downloaded by the NTSB to use in the investigation. In their Factual Report, the NTSB said the 737 had departed with several inoperative items as permitted by the minimum equipment list (MEL), 1 of the inoperative systems was the automatic brakes. Landing on runway 22 was necessary because of MEL requirements. The 737 performed a normal flaps 40 approach to runway 22 and touched down normally in the touch down zone. The Captain, Pilot flying, then pulled the thrust levers to idle, brought the spoilers into the fully up position, activated and applied reverse thrust and applied manual brakes. Both crew members thought the tires blew soon after touchdown. Smoke and fire appeared in the area of the right hand main gear soon after touch down. The crew was informed about the fire and smoke from the right hand main gear by the tower and ordered the evacuation through the left hand doors. The Flight Attendants opened the forward and aft left hand doors, the slide inflated, and all 48 passengers slid down. The crew members checked the cabin to ensure nobody was left behind and then slid down as well. The evacuation was completed after 57 seconds. Fire engines had reached the aircraft and were able to "knock" the fire down 32 seconds after the evacuation began, 4 minutes later the fire services reported the fire was out. Following a quick check in a triage all passengers and crew were bussed to the terminal. The investigation continues and the full Factual Report, including a detailed examination of the tire damage, can be found on the NTSB website.