Midwest 717 Makes Emergency Landing in IRK

[FlyFastLiveSlow]

Anyone hear anything about the Midwest 717 that made an emergency landing in Kirksville, MO last night? Local St. Louis news said that they were enroute from MCI-DCA and hit turbulence bad enough that they thought there was damage to the aircraft. Anyone?

 

[FlyFastLiveSlow]

bump...

 

[b82rez]

Doesn't sound too exciting. The company says they experienced turb. and a "loss of altitude" and chose to land at the closest airport. One flight attendant has a bump. But they may have damaged the airplane because thay say the NTSB is investigating.

 

[FlyFastLiveSlow]

Sounds like a non-event pretty much. IRK seems like a strange choice though. 6000 x 75 and VERY narrow taxiways.

 

[Guitar Guy]

Perhaps the crew was familiar with the airport and if they suspected structural damage, it may not have been such a strange choice.

 

[ebaybob]

http://www.ktvotv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=3339896&nav=1LFrZouB

 

[FlyFastLiveSlow]

http://www.ktvotv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=3339896&nav=1LFrZouB

That has to be one of the worst "news" articles I have read in a long time. DId an intern write it?

 

[FlyFastLiveSlow]

Perhaps the crew was familiar with the airport and if they suspected structural damage, it may not have been such a strange choice.

I'm actually quite familiar with IRK, and qual'd on the 717. Unless the aircraft were about to crash, STL would have been only 20 minutes away.

 

[bafanguy]

That has to be one of the worst "news" articles I have read in a long time. DId an intern write it?

I agree that was the most useless load of horse droppings I've seen in a long time.

Any story you read about an aviation situation will read as if an "intern" had written it. These writers don't like the facts to get in the way of their reporting.

 

[FlyFastLiveSlow]

I agree that was the most useless load of horse droppings I've seen in a long time.

Any story you read about an aviation situation will read as if an "intern" had written it. These writers don't like the facts to get in the way of their reporting.

I just sent the editor a nasty gram. That is sooooo fun.

 

[Mmmmmm Burritos]

Intern? Don't knock interns, they usually are in the top of their class. This article looks like a third grader wrote it.

(MILLARD, Mo.) An airline disaster was averted late last night when a passenger jet was forced to make an emergency landing at Kirksville Regional Airport, less than half an hour after taking off from Kansas City International.

Midwest Airlines flight 490 was making what was supposed to be a direct flight to Washington D.C. when something went wrong with the aircraft.

About 80 people took a flight from hell Thursday night and lived to tell about it. Their plane managed to make a safe emergency landing Kirksville Regional Airport after the pilot reported he was having control problems with the aircraft.

Passengers say everyone onboard remained calm during the whole experience. Everyone had been told to get into the crash position to prepare for the landing.

No one was injured during last night's incident.

The airline put the passengers up in local hotels for the night and is going to make arrangements to bus them back to Kansas City sometime Friday morning to continue their trip.

 

[LXJ31]

Its weird because Columbia School of Journalism is a very tough school to get into and very expensive. Somewhere along the line "journalists" began to regard themselves in the same class as doctors, lawyers etc. smart people with advanced degrees. I read the newspaper and can not figure out why; It really is just who, what, where, why and how....its not that difficult.

That article would have been sent back to me for a rewrite in high school, let alone at a real paper.

 

[ultrarunner]

I'm actually quite familiar with IRK, and qual'd on the 717. Unless the aircraft were about to crash, STL would have been only 20 minutes away.

I was thinking the same thing. It must have been a massive crisis to go into an uncontrolled field with a "relatively" short, single runway, etc....

Heck, the long runway has a double wheel weight limit of 48,000 lbs. They could have easily been twice that weight depending upon how much fuel they tanked out of MCI.

Now, if the plane is coming apart or you can't control it, putting holes in runways is the least of your worries...

But you do have to consider "sutible".

 

[rchcfi]

That writer needs to stop smokin' the ganja. It almost sounds like he would be the one to tell his wife about a flat tire on the freeway.


"Honey, you wouldn't believe it! There I was with 18 wheelers all around me and my tire shredded into a million pieces causing me to lose control. Luckily I turned the steering wheel 23 degrees to the right and was able to do four 360s through the traffic without a scratch. As I was coming through my third 360, I saw one of the truckers giving me the thumbs up sign. You should've been there! Another disaster averted!"

Dumb Arse

 

[ultrarunner]

I just sent the editor a nasty gram. That is sooooo fun.

hehe...here is what I just sent Tim McGonigal, News Director. And I feel MUCH better


".....Tim, please read some of the excerpts below and tell me this is not some of the most ridiculous sensationalized reporting you have read:



Tragedy in the sky averted

(MILLARD, Mo.) An airline disaster was averted...

Midwest Airlines flight 490 was making what was supposed to be a direct flight to Washington D.C. when something went wrong with the aircraft.....

About 80 people took a flight from hell Thursday night and lived to tell about it...



You give journalism and accurate reporting a bad name.

First of all, there was no "Tragedy averted".

Secondly, NOTHING went wrong with the airplane....it hit some clear air turbulence for christ sake, and the crew MAY have reported some control problems.

Thirdly, what the heck is the writer reporting on when they say "FLIGHT FROM HELL". Real classy there Tim.

Oh, by the way, this was a story in YOUR newspaper.

This reporter is a GOD**CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** LOOSER! AND SO IS YOUR GOD**CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** RAG!

Give folks some accurate information and leave the drama for the tabloids....


oops...maybe I didn't realized your paper is the latter...."

 

[XTW]

I'm actually quite familiar with IRK, and qual'd on the 717. Unless the aircraft were about to crash, STL would have been only 20 minutes away.

From this, it sounds like YOU should have been on board and told the captain where to go.

For not having any facts of the situation, all of this is Monday morning speculation. Try waiting for something official first.


XTW

PS. 20 minutes can be a very long time.

 

[FlyFastLiveSlow]

From this, it sounds like YOU should have been on board and told the captain where to go.

For not having any facts of the situation, all of this is Monday morning speculation. Try waiting for something official first.


XTW

PS. 20 minutes can be a very long time.

I agree...still IRK seems like an odd choice. I was responding to a post asking if anything else was close. Virtually ANYWHERE has better CFR than IRK. Perhaps the tabloids above should wait for some facts also.

 

[AA717driver]

If they could make Kirksville, they certainly could have made Burlington or Quincy. Geez, what were they thinking? TC

 

[ultrarunner]

As we all know, there is nothing worse than being in the air and wanting to be on the ground...

and if IRK is it, well, it's it. Especially if the flight crew is experiencing flight control problems....who gives a flying fuc about rwy weight limits, avail. of CFR, etc...

..since we are all familiar with the last flight crew that experienced flight control problems and took the advice of MX, as opposed to landing ASAP...

which was the Alaskan MD-80 tragedy.

 

[FN FAL]

But you do have to consider "sutible".

OK, let's consider "sutible".

The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary. Click on a spelling suggestion below or try again using the search box to the right.

Suggestions for sutible:
1. suitable
2. stubble
3. stabile
4. citable
5. Setubal
6. suitably
7. stubbled
8. stoopball What the hell is 'stoopball'?
9. stably
10. stubbly

And there were two emergencies declared by Midwest in a 24 hour period, one included a un-scheduled landing because one of it's engines was making a sputtering sound like a car, whatever that means.

 

[Airpiraterob]

that news article was a completely irrisponsible attempt at informing the public. The writer decided to take it upon his/her own self to sensationalize factual information. I can guarantee that he person that wrote this either did NOT attend the Mizzou J-school, or did and passed it with an absolutel minimum GPA....or was drunk the mornign after a party.

"About 80 people took a flight from hell Thursday night and lived to tell about it."

WTF is that? the writer dosent know enough to say anything about what the flight was like. Were there any useful hard factual accounts from passengers? NO. any accounts from crew? NO any accounts from anyone actually involved? NO. All there was was a report of turbulence and a precautionary landing.

therefore does the writer have the authority to "spice up" what factual information he/she has? absolutely NOT. Too many people in the news industry now got degrees in 'mass-media' and not real honest to god Journalism degree.

A journalist delivers FACTS only. it will be dry. it will be non-entertaining. it will be factual information only and no interpretation or opinions will be made in any way by the reporter...that is a journalist!

and on a related note...FOX news can suck it. theyre not even close to being in the ballpark of a real news organization of any ethical responsibility when it comes to news.

my rant is over...you may now resume naked swimming.

 

[ebaybob]

COU would have most likely been the closest larger airport if the flight was south of IRK....OTM to the north is a little bigger than IRK as well...otherwise not much else around...the largest planes I ever saw landing in IRK growing up were the Gulfstream line and a Saab 340 (TWE plane that had something go wrong a few years ago and made an emergency landing). I haven't been back in a while but I'm sure nothing has changed as far as the airport facilities...it looked like they had to use a construction lift to get the folks off the plane.


By the way...the quality of journalism from KTVO is about what I expected...always amazing to see the crap small town tv comes up with.

 

[millhouse21]

"Flight from hell?" I thought they departed from Kansas City. Well, maybe the reporter has a point...

 

[ebaybob]

So all of your posts have caused me to spring into action..."flight from Hell" has officially pissed me off as well...now my wife is going to have to hear about it for days. Maybe pilots should organize efforts to write to stupid reporters when they pull crap like this...


Here is my email to the reporter:

John,

As a former resident of Kirksville I enjoy reading andwatching the online KTVO news as well as other news services from the area. As a pilot, however, I'm frequently dismayed at the media's portrayal of aviation and aviation incidents. Your reporting on the incident at the Kirksville airport a few nights ago seems to fall below the standard of professional journalism I'm sure you strive to meet.

While the Midwest Airlines flight you reported on may have been scary for both the passengers and crew,saying that the trip was a "flight from Hell" detracts significantly from the quality of your news story. I'm sure your intention is to sensationalize and elicit an emotional response from your viewers. The actual impact of such a statement, however, is to reduce the content of your story to tabloid status.

I appreciate the desire to catch viewers' attentionwith exciting stories. Unfortunatley Kirksville has had too many "exciting" stories at the airport recently, primarily due to the tragedy with thecommuter airline crash. Please continue to cover these stories with the professionalism they deserve and refrain from using buzzwords to sensationalize and add drama to the events. Such statements serve novalid newsworthy purpose.

Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Salt Lake City, UT

http://www.ktvotv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=3339896&nav=1LFrZouB

 

[eprops]

FYI

MKE Journalsentinel

Midwest flight emergency is airline's second in 24 hours

No one hurt in landing at Missouri airport

By JESSE GARZA
[email protected]

Posted: May 13, 2005

A second Midwest Airlines flight in less than 24 hours to make an unscheduled landing encountered bad weather Friday, an airline official said.

Travel

Photo/AP

Passengers that were aboard Midwest Airlines Flight 490 make other arrangements Friday at Kirksville Regional Airport in Kirksville, Mo., after turbulent weather forced the jet to make an emergency landing late Thursday night in Kirksville.

Advertisement

Flight 490, which left Kansas City about midnight destined for Washington National Airport, encountered severe weather shortly after it became airborne, said Carol Skornicka, a senior vice president at the airline.

The pilot attempted to fly around the storm, but the aircraft then encountered turbulence, Skornicka said.

The pilot of the Boeing 717 made a precautionary landing at Kirksville, Mo., where the airline arranged lodging for the flight's 76 passengers, Skornicka said.

She said the plane was flying at 23,000 feet when it ran into turbulent weather.

Friday morning the passengers were bused back to Kansas City, where they boarded alternative flights to their destinations, Skornicka said.

The aircraft was undergoing a complete inspection for damage and technical problems, she said.

Passengers who were aboard the plane told of harrowing experiences while the plane was in the air.

"All of a sudden, we started rocking up and down," Mike Lavalle, a producer with a Japanese television network, said in an interview with the Kirksville Daily Express. "My body was actually weightless at times. I could actually feel the skin pulling from my face. I've been through some turbulence before, but nothing like this."

The weather had delayed the flight's departure from Kansas City International Airport for several hours, The Associated Press reported.

"Everybody was so calm," said Mike Ryan of Kansas City, Mo. "I really felt like if somebody in the back had started screaming, a lot of people would have let loose. One of the things that kept me calm was the little kids in front of me, because I knew losing control wouldn't help them."

The flight was the first for Ryan's brother, Brian, who said, "I ain't getting on another one after this. I don't care what's going on."

Clint Pickett of Overland Park, Kan., said, "They told us to get in the crash position, and then they told us we were going to land in Missouri. And someone asked, 'At an airport?' It was nice to hear when they said, 'Yes.' "

Thursday afternoon, a Midwest Airlines Boeing 717 carrying 83 passengers from Milwaukee made an emergency landing en route to Kansas City after the flight crew noticed minor engine surges similar to the sputtering of a car.

The captain declared an emergency on Flight 401, which left Milwaukee about 1:15 p.m., so the nearly 2-year-old plane could be checked, Skornicka said.

The plane had a final destination of San Antonio, with a stop in Kansas City.

It landed in Des Moines, Iowa, where passengers boarded another Midwest flight coming in from Milwaukee.



Associated Press contributed to this report.

Epr/Ops

 

[mamba20]

While most of these posts make great points the simple fact of the matter is that only the flight crew knows what happened and what they needed to do. While IRK may not seem like the best choice to us sitting on the ground with a beer in hand it seemed perfectly logical to the flight crew at the time.

Bottom line, they landed the airplane safely, who really cares where?