AA MD80 lands 1000ft short of runway

By Sean Kelly
Denver Post

An American Airlines jet made a rough landing at Denver International Airport on Sunday morning after it undershot a runway.

American Flight 1115 from Dallas-Fort Worth to Denver landed about 1,000 feet short of runway 35L at DIA, officials said. None of the 103 passengers and five crew members was injured.

“It’s a very unusual event,” Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Donn Walker said.

The plane landed about 10:38 a.m. on a paved surface short of the runway, taking out some lights. Walker said the airplane suffered some possible engine damage and may have blown tires.

The plane taxied to the gate but is out of service while crews repair the damage, American Airlines spokesman Tim Kincaid said.

DIA spokeswoman Sally Covington said the runway remained closed Sunday evening while an investigation continued but that airport operations were normal.

According to Internet databases, landing short is highly uncommon for commercial airliners.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were conducting an investigation. It was unclear if weather was a factor.

“Our role is to help find out why this happened. We’ll try to determine what occurred and why it occurred,” Walker said. “Something like this is not supposed to happen.”

The MD-80 jet is a workhorse of the American fleet, numbering 334 of the carrier’s 704 total planes.