Southwest Bans Landings On UPS Crash Runway

Southwest Airlines has barred its pilots from landing on the runway where a UPS cargo jet was trying to land when it crashed at Birmingham's airport last year.
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Southwest Airlines has barred its pilots from landing on the runway where a UPS cargo jet was trying to land when it crashed at Birmingham's airport last year.

A spokeswoman for the Texas-based airline, Jenna Williamson, said Tuesday the passenger carrier took that action because pilots were getting cockpit alerts warning they were too close to the ground on approach.

Williamson says Birmingham's Runway 18 is no longer authorized for Southwest landings, but pilots can still use it for takeoffs.

Southwest's decision was first reported by Al.com.

The rule goes further than a safety alert from another passenger carrier, ExpressJet Airlines, which told its pilots to avoid the runway whenever possible and use a longer runway.

A UPS jet crashed while nearing the shorter runway, killing two pilots.

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