Near Collision on Ground at Midway

[thruthemurk]

So evidently SWA aircraft don't have brakes on the FO side? Regardless of who dropped the ball, they were about to cross the runway when the first officer saw the small jet about to cross and “ yelled for the captain, who was at the controls, to stop,”. Whether it's SWA, AA, Transtates, or anyone else, if the FO sees himself about to get t-boned on the ground, I would hope he just hits the damn brakes and makes his case to the Captain later. That's pretty much what they pay them for. Hooray for not getting in an avoidable crash on the ground....

Apparently the FO correctly assessed he had time to warn the Captain. That's the typical order of escalation - communicate, then take control of the aircraft if communication ineffective.

 

[FR8mastr]

Almost 100 yards laterally on the ground. Doesn't sound that close, sure its close enough to get your pucker up for a moment, but it sure wasn't I could see the color of his eyes kind of stuff".

Either way, it was good the FO saw it and reacted.

 

[get2flyin]

Apparently the FO correctly assessed he had time to warn the Captain. That's the typical order of escalation - communicate, then take control of the aircraft if communication ineffective.

If he had to, quote "yell", he should have just hit the brakes. If he had time to say, "Hey skipper, they failed to tell us to hold short of the runway that has a little jet hurtling down it. You probably out to stop to keep us from getting t-boned", then this was hardly an near catastrophe.

But hey, that's just me...I wasn't there.

 

[suupah]

The good news is this must be the last model of the 737, what could possibly come after "the Max."

max LR, ER and Super Max

 

[dingo222]

737 Magnum

 

[Turtle21]

Almost 100 yards laterally on the ground. Doesn't sound that close, sure its close enough to get your pucker up for a moment, but it sure wasn't I could see the color of his eyes kind of stuff".

Either way, it was good the FO saw it and reacted.

Its good its was 1200 RVR

 

[Ralph Wiggums]

If he had time to say, "Hey skipper, they failed to tell us to hold short of the runway....

You have clearly never landed at Midway.

 

[Jim Smyth]

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/southwest-near-collision-chicago-midway-jan-11-2012

Why is this just released today?

It wasnt released till today because it isnt news. Obviously news was slow and they were looking for some issue to blow out of proportion. When you get into the big leagues you always clear both sides prior to crossing any runway, every time! It doesnt happen very often that ATC makes mistakes like this but they are human like we are.

 

[be-400xpdriver]

the good news is this must be the last model of the 737, what could possibly come after "the max."

737-wtf

 

[Whataburger]

Nice pic Ralph. I am not a Chicago fan, but I always thought that view would make a nice pic.

The Miracle square Mile.

 

[igneousy2]

the good news is this must be the last model of the 737, what could possibly come after "the max."

737-still!

 

[tankerhead]

Is SuperMax taken already? Sounds familiar for some reason...

 

[Flying-Corporal]

That's what happens when you taxi at 50kts at an airport that has a lot of crossing runways.

 

[DrewBlows]

I haven't been to MDW in at least a few months but I've had controllers there give me non-standard instructions when crossing runways. They have cleared us to cross two runways at once and told us to hold short of 22L without telling us to cross 22R. Neither would have created an issue but the non-standard instructions were odd.

 

[Captain Fulough]

I've been based in MDW for 9 years and I can't remember seeing anyone taking off on 31R during that time. 31C all the time and 31L occasionally for corporate or smaller.

MDW controllers do a great job moving a/c here safely and efficiently. Looks like they screwed this one up but thankfully the crew visually cleared the runway before attempting to cross. After landing is a busy time for a SWA FO and this one did a great job to prevent an accident. Thank You!