Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
La Guardia Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Flushing, New York
Monday, July 22, 2013 17:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 22, 2013 about 1740 edt, N753SW, Boeing 737-700, operated by Southwest Airlines as flight 345, landed hard and sustained a collapsed nose gear on runway 04 at LaGuardia International Airport (LGA), Flushing, New York. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and an instrument flight plan was filed. Of the 145 passengers and 5 crewmembers, there were 9 minor injuries. The airplane was substantially damaged and there was no fire. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 as a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Nashville International Airport (BNA), Nashville, Tennessee.
The takeoff, climb, en route and descent phases of flight was normal. The first officer was the pilot flying and the captain was the pilot monitoring. SWA 345 was cleared for the instrument landing system runway 04 approach. According to flight recorder information, the SWA 345 proceeded on the approach until shortly before landing when a transfer of control from the first officer to captain occurred. The airplane touched down on the runway nose first followed by the collapse of the nose gear. The airplane slid about 2,175 feet before it came to rest on the right side of the runway.
The following factual information has been developed:
Evidence from video and other sources is consistent with the nose-gear making contact with the runway before the main landing gear. The flight data recorder on the airplane recorded 1,000 parameters and contained approximately 27 hours of recorded data, including the entire flight from Nashville to New York. The cockpit voice recorder contains a two-hour recording of excellent quality that captures the entire flight from Nashville to New York and the accident landing sequence. Flaps were set from 30 to 40 degrees about 56 seconds prior to touchdown. Altitude was about 32 feet, airspeed was about 134 knots, and pitch attitude was about 2 degrees nose-up approximately 4 seconds prior touchdown. At touchdown, the airspeed was approximately 133 knots and the aircraft was pitched down approximately 3 degrees. After touchdown, the aircraft came to a stop within approximately 19 seconds. The captain has been with Southwest for almost 13 years and has been a captain for six of those years. The captain has over 12,000 total flight hours, over 7,000 of which are as pilot-in-command. In 737s, the captain has over 7,900 hours, with more than 2,600 as the pilot-in-command. The first officer has been with Southwest for about 18 months. The pilot has about 5,200 total flight hours, with 4,000 of those as pilot-in-command. In 737s, the first officer has about 1,100 hours, none of which are as the pilot-in-command. This was the first trip the flight crew had flown together and it was the second leg of the trip. The first officer had previous operational experience at LGA, including six flights in 2013. The captain reported having flown into LGA twice, including the accident flight, serving as the pilot monitoring for both flights. The en route phase of the flight, which originated in Nashville, was characterized by the flight crew as routine. On approach into LGA, the first officer was the pilot flying and the captain was the pilot monitoring. SWA 345 was cleared for the ILS Runway 4 approach. The weather in the New York area caused the accident flight to enter a holding pattern for about 15 minutes. The crew reported that they saw the airport from about 5-10 miles out and that the airplane was on speed, course and glideslope down to about 200-400 feet. The crew reported that below 1,000 feet, the tailwind was about 11 knots. They also reported that the wind on the runway was a headwind of about 11 knots. SWA 345 proceeded on the approach when at a point below 400 feet, there was an exchange of control of the airplane and the captain became the flying pilot and made the landing. The jetliner touched down on the runway nose first followed by the collapse of the nose gear; the airplane was substantially damaged.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/22/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Flushing |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 404638N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0735221W |
| Event Location Airport | LA GUARDIA |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LGA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 108 |
| Airport Elevation | 21 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 9 |
| Injury Total None | 141 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 9 |
| Investigating Agency | -- |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | Southwest Airlines |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 25 2013 9:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | sedj |
| Basic weather conditions | -- |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N753SW |
| NTSB Number | DCA13FA131 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BOEING |
| Aircraft Model | 737 7H4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 7H4 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 29848 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 154500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 149 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2702 LOVE FIELD DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | DALLAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 752351908 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 2702 LOVE FIELD DR |
| Operator City | DALLAS |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 752351908 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BNA |
| Departure City | NASHVILLE |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | LGA |
| Destination City | Flushing |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 25 2013 9:49AM |
| User who most recently changed record | sedj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 04 |
| Runway Length | 7001 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |