'MY FAULT,' PILOT ADMITS IN BURBANK JET MISHAP.

Byline: Bill Hillburg Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - ``Well, there goes my career.''

Those prophetic words were uttered by Capt. Howard Peterson on March 5, 2000, moments after his Southwest Airlines jetliner overshot a rain-slicked runway at Burbank Airport, crashed through a fence and skidded to within yards of a gas station on Hollywood Way.

The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday released a flight recorder transcript and a detailed report on the incident.

Thomas R. Curran, the NTSB official who led the probe into the crash, stressed that no cause has been officially determined and that the investigation is continuing. But the report generally supported earlier findings that Peterson had brought the plane in too high and too fast to make a safe landing.

Flight 1455, a Boeing 737-300 en route from Las Vegas, had 142 people aboard. Seven people, including Peterson, sustained minor injuries in the accident.

Peterson and his first officer, Jeffrey D. Erwin, were fired last August by Southwest, which cited their roles in the Burbank incident. That action was challenged by the Southwest Airlines Pilot Association.

Peterson elected to retire rather than fight the dismissal and Erwin was reinstated in November by the airline, Wayne Stamps, vice president of the pilot group, said Tuesday.

The NTSB report - compiled with the cooperation of the flight's crew, the airline and Burbank Airport officials - noted that Peterson and Erwin had excellent work records and that there were no mechanical problems with the aircraft or with guidance and safety systems at Burbank.

Asked by investigators why he had ignored an aircraft warning alarm that advised him to pull up and abort the landing, Peterson said he was ``fixated on the runway'' and believed he could compensate for his speed and altitude. Erwin said that he first became fully aware of the speed problem when they touched down and the aircraft flashed down the runway past the Burbank terminal.

Previous reports found that the plane was traveling at 208 mph when it touched down. That rate is considered excessive, given the length of the runway, but is within Southwest Airlines safety guidelines for its pilots.

Flight 1455 also made its descent at a six-degree angle, twice as steep as the recommended approach.

Both Peterson and Erwin reported they jammed on the airliner's brakes in an effort to stop within the runway. When that failed, Peterson made a hard right turn with the nose wheel, further slowing the jetliner and avoiding a head-on collision with the airport perimeter fence and surrounding structures, including the gas station.

According to the cockpit recorder transcript, Peterson immediately accepted responsibility for the accident. Amid the sounds of screeching brakes and impact with the fence, the pilot said ``my fault, my fault.''

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Flight 1455 en route from Las Vegas ended up on Hollywood Way.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer