Southwest Airlines Flight 1248

Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 (WN1248, SWA1248) was a scheduled passenger flight from Baltimore-Washington International Airport, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Chicago Midway International Airport, in Chicago, Illinois, to Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City, Utah, and then to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. On December 8, 2005, the airplane slid off a runway at Chicago-Midway while landing in a snowstorm and crashed into automobile traffic, killing six-year-old Joshua Woods.

Narrative

On Thursday, December 8, 2005, Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 was scheduled to arrive at Chicago Midway International Airport from Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, and then continue on to Salt Lake City International Airport, then to Las Vegas McCarran International Airport. The flight circled over a small area in northwest Indiana several times before attempting to land in a snowstorm. The snowstorm had reduced visibility to less than one mile.

At around 7:15 p.m. CST, the pilot attempted a landing with nearly eight inches of snow on the ground in the area. Airport officials stated that the runway was cleared of snow prior to the time of landing. The latest reported weather had the wind from between east and east-southeast (100°) at .

An east south easterly wind would normally favor landing into the wind on Runway 13 Center. The runway visual range was reported at...
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