Statement of Attorneys for Woods Family on NTSB's Latest Finding

The National Transportation Safety Board issued a statement on Friday, Jan, 27 regarding the incident at Midway Airport that killed 6-year-old Joshua Woods. Clifford Law Offices and the Law Offices of Ronald A. Stearney represent the Woods family and issued the following response:

The use of thrust reversers in calculating stopping distance is not a safe practice.  Had Flight 1248 not been allowed to use thrust reverser credit to calculate stopping distance, it would have been clear that Runway 31C was unsafe to land the aircraft and the flight would have been diverted.

Obviously, the use of thrust reverser credits allows Boeing to sell larger and heavier aircraft to airlines such as Southwest who can attempt to land those planes into shorter fields. Southwest’s use of the thrust reverser credit is not a safe practice and is especially unsafe during a contaminated runway condition such as was present on Dec. 8, 2005 . 

The firms continue to investigate this tragedy and support the efforts of the NTSB.