CHICAGO - The pilot of a Southwest Airlines plane that skidded off a snowy Chicago runway and onto adjacent streets told U.S. safety investigators that he had some mechanical trouble when the aircraft touched the ground, a spokesman for the investigation said on Sunday.
The pilot told the investigators the thrust reversers, which slow down a plane, didn't immediately kick in when he deployed them, said Keith Holloway, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board.
"The captain told us when he initially tried the thrust reversers, he couldn't do it," said Holloway.
The problem was quickly corrected as the first officer was able to deploy them, he said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is trying to determine what caused the Boeing 737 with 98 passengers and five crew to plunge through a fence-like barrier and onto a busy street during a snowstorm on Thursday evening.
The crash killed a 6-year-old boy riding in a car and injured 13 people.
The plane has been removed from the scene of the crash, Holloway said.
Midway airport, which is southwest of downtown Chicago, was hit with more than 9 inches (23 cm) of snow before and after the accident but it was not known if that played a part in the mishap. Visibility was one-quarter to one-half mile (400 to 800 metres) with snow falling when the flight from Baltimore made an instrument landing, the airline said.
The plane was a relatively new aircraft with no history of problems, the airline said on Friday.
Federal investigators have said the plane's cockpit voice recorder showed there were no alarms raised among the pilots or air traffic controllers about the plane's condition or its approach to the airport.
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