Southwest Air Lines Flight 611

Southwest Air Lines Flight 611 was a scheduled flight from Naha to Ishigaki. On 26 August 1982, the Boeing 737-200 overran the runway while attempting to land. The aircraft caught fire and was destroyed, but none of the 133 passengers and 5 crew died in the accident although two crew and one passenger were seriously injured.

Flight

Southwest Air Lines Flight 611 took off on runway 36 from Naha Airport on the island of Okinawa at 13:09 for a regular flight to Ishigaki Airport, Japan. The aircraft climbed to the cruising altitude of Flight level 240 (approximately 24000 ft). On approach to Ishigaki, the crew was given weather information for Ishigaki — wind 300 degrees at 12 kn; temperature 32 C; active runway: Runway 22. At 13:33 Flight 611 descended to 8,000 ft. The crew of Flight 611 made a crosswind landing at a speed of 131 kn, slightly higher than the reference airspeed. The aircraft bounced and on touching down again the spoilers and thrust reversers did not seem to operate.The flight crew shut down both engines but this action disabled the anti-skid braking system, and during the landing rolls the inner tires on both main gear legs burst almost simultaneously. Flight 611 overran the runway and came to rest 145 m beyond the threshold at 13:49. Everyone on board was evacuated. At 14:01 the Boeing 737 caught fire and was destroyed.

None of the 138 passengers and crew were killed in the accident, but 67 were injured. Serious injuries were prevented by a quick evacuation although a stewardess and an elderly woman passenger were detained in hospital.