What happened
On March 5, 2000, at approximately 18:11 PST, Southwest Airlines flight 1455 was completing a landing at Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport in California. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-300 registered as N668SW, touched down on runway 8 at a speed of roughly 182 knots. Following the landing, the aircraft failed to stop within the runway limits, overrunning the departure end of the runway.
Approximately 20 seconds after touchdown, while traveling at about 32 knots, the plane struck a metal blast fence and an airport perimeter wall. The momentum of the aircraft carried it off the airport grounds, where it eventually stopped on a public street near a gas station. During the excursion, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the forward service door escape slide deployed inside the cabin. Additionally, a flight attendant jump seat partially collapsed during the impact.
There were 142 people on board the flight. The accident resulted in 2 serious injuries, while 41 passengers and the captain suffered minor injuries. The remaining 94 passengers and 4 crew members escaped without injury. The aircraft suffered significant external damage and some internal cabin damage.
Findings
At the time of the incident, the flight was operating under instrument flight rules, though visual meteorological conditions were present during the twilight hours. The sequence of events was characterized by the aircraft's inability to stop before the runway end.