Second Flight Diverted From Airport

For the second time in about 24 hours, a Southwest Airlines jet experiencing mechanical problems flew to another nearby airport rather than land at Burbank Airport as scheduled, officials said Thursday.

Southwest Airlines Flight 494, traveling from Las Vegas to Burbank with 107 passengers and 5 crew members, on Wednesday afternoon diverted to Los Angeles International Airport when a possible braking problem was discovered, officials said.

The airliner landed safely at LAX and there were no injuries, said Ginger Hardage, a spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines.

Hardage said the Wednesday flight did not involve the high drama experienced a day earlier when another Southwest flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Ontario International Airport. That incident also occurred without injuries.

Airline and airport officials said the diversion of a crippled commercial airline is so rare that they cannot remember any such incident at Burbank before this week. Fog or inclement weather are far more common causes for rerouting a flight, they said.

“Extremely rare,” said Victor J. Gill, an airport spokesman, referring to the two commercial flights heading elsewhere with mechanical problems. “I cannot cite a single other incident.”

Carl Raggio, president of the authority which controls the airport, said the two diversions demonstrate why the existing terminal needs to be relocated away from runways. Raggio emphasized that the airport is safe, but could be improved.

Raggio said the pilot’s decision Wednesday to divert to LAX “makes sense. When in doubt, again you’re going to manage your risk.”

A Southwest spokesman said investigators discovered a faulty valve in an anti-skid device.

Hardage said the flight was diverted to LAX because of its longer runways.

Passengers were placed on another aircraft and flown to Burbank, arriving about an hour later than scheduled.