Person killed by Southwest plane on Austin airport runway

By Taylor Pettaway, mySA.com / San Antonio Express-News

Published 8:23 am CDT, Friday, May 8, 2020

An person was killed Thursday night after getting struck by an airplane that had just landed at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, officials said.

Just before 8:15 p.m., Southwest Airlines Flight 1392, coming from Dallas Love Field Airport, reported to air traffic control that they saw an unauthorized person on runway 17 right after the plane touched down, the airport tweeted.

Austin police and EMS responded to the scene where they found an adult victim on the runway. Officials pronounced him dead at the scene shortly after.

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The runway was closed until about 1 a.m. for officials to investigate the crime scene. Operations are expected to return to normal on Friday.

Austin police are investigating the incident and haven’t said why the individual was on the runway.

In a statement released by Southwest, the airline said pilots attempted to maneuver to avoid hitting the person who appeared shortly after touchdown.

“Southwest is fully cooperating with local law enforcement and FAA as they investigate this event. Our Southwest Hearts extend to the individual involved, and we sincerely thank our Crew for their professionalism and swift response,” the company said in a news release.

Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | [email protected] | @TaylorPettaway