The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the July 22, 2013 nose-down landing of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 at LaGuardia Airport in New York. The accident occurred at 5:45 p.m. after the twin-engine jet's nose landing gear collapsed rearward and upward into the fuselage, damaging the electronics bay, which houses avionics and other equipment. The exterior of the airplane was also damaged from sliding 2,175 feet on its nose along Runway 4 before coming to rest, off to the right side of the runway. Southwest flight 345 originated in Nashville. All 145 passengers and five crew members evacuated the airplane, with nine being treated for minor injuries. The airplane's slides deployed normally.
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