The aircraft, a Boeing 737-3T5, registration N668SW,[2] came to rest on a city street adjacent to a Chevron gas station.

The National Transportation Safety Board found that the incident was due to the pilots attempting to land with excessive speed.

At 18:05:13 the captain told the first officer that the air traffic controller had instructed them to remain at 230 knots (260 mph; 430 km/h) or greater "for a while."

At 1808 the controller cleared flight 1455 for a visual approach to runway 8 with a restriction to remain at or above 3,000 feet (above mean sea level) until passing the Van Nuys VOR beacon.

Radar data suggest that the flight began its descent from 3,000 feet (910 m) about 4 miles (3 nmi; 6 km) from the runway.

[6] According to the Aeronautical Information Manual Section 4-4-12f,[7] this approach clearance automatically canceled any previous speed assignments.

Additionally, call-outs are required if certain parameters are not met, in this case flight speed and sink rate.

At 18:09:32, one minute and thirteen seconds after approach clearance was given, and at 3,000 feet (910 m) of altitude, the captain began to slow the aircraft by deploying the flaps.

The captain stated after the accident that he knew as the aircraft passed 500 feet (150 m) that he was not "in the slot," meaning the conditions had not been met for a safe landing, in this case because of an excessive airspeed.

The nose section and front landing gear were sheared off, but otherwise the fuselage remained intact and there was no compromise of the cabin area.

The cockpit voice recorder captured the flight's captain remarking, "Well, there goes my career," moments after the accident.

The NTSB cited this accident in a recommendation for installing the engineered materials arrestor system (EMAS) at airports where it is not feasible to establish the 1,000-foot (300 m) runway safety area (RSA).

On Friday, October 13, 2006, the Burbank EMAS stopped a private jet with no injuries or aircraft damage.

[16] Burbank city officials demanded that Southwest Airlines pay their $40,000 bill for services, including overtime for police officers and firefighters, related to the March 5, 2000, accident.