Lifting Gear Hire and Imperial Crane Services Remove Runaway Plane from Chicago Highway

Enlarge Image Lifting Gear Hire's Modulift system helped get the jet back into the hangar after it skidded off the runway at Midway in Chicago.

January 11, 2006 • Lifting Gear Hire Corporation and Imperial Crane Services, Inc. recently joined forces to remove Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 from the intersection of West 55th Street and Central Avenue in Chicago after the plane skidded off a runway at Midway Airport. Imperial Crane used Lifting Gear Hire's Modulift 50 spreader beam system, a lifting solution known for its ability to accommodate awkward loads, to move the Boeing 737-700 jet.

 

“A spreader beam was needed to complete this task, and the Modulift system was a reliable choice,” said Ricky Bohne of Imperial Crane Services, Inc., who supervised the rigging at the site. “In order to move the plane, we set the Modulift beam at 13 feet. The top rigging included 25-foot 40,000-pound round slings, doubled. Two 12-foot round slings, each with a 66,000-pound capacity, were used on the sides. In addition, we used 50-foot 90,000-pound round slings hooked to each landing gear for towing the plane backwards. We were able to successfully move the airplane back over the curb, through the fence and into the hangar without creating any more damage in about 9 hours. Everything went as planned • timely and cautiously.”

 

According to Tony Fiscelli, general manager of Lifting Gear Hire's U.S. headquarters, the Modulift beam was an integral part of moving the jet back into the hangar. “Its ability to be quickly assembled and its span versatility contributed to the timely removal of the plane in this emergency situation,” he said.