Delta Airlines Plane Skids Off Runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York
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@KristinaGrossmann/Instagram(NEW YORK) — A plane skidded off an icy runway into a fence at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Thursday while landing during a winter storm, shutting down the airport’s runways, officials said.
Delta Flight 1086, an MD-88 arriving from Atlanta, skidded off Runway 13 around 11:05 a.m., according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The Port Authority confirmed that all 127 passengers and five crew members, “were safely taken off plane.”
The runway where the plane landed had been plowed just minutes before and two other pilots reported “good braking action” as they landed, according to Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye.
Once the plane landed, it veered sharply left about 4,500 to 5,000 feet down the 7,000-foot runway, skidding off to the side and nearly ending up in the water, according to Foye.
Two people were transported to a local hospital with minor injuries.
An Instagram video shot shortly after the crash showed a man at the scene leaving in a stretcher.
LaGuardia’s runways were closed, but one runway was expected to reopen around 2 p.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Officials said they were checking for a fuel leak.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced it would send an investigator to secure the flight data recorders and document the damage.
Images of the plane taken by eyewitnesses showed that it apparently crashed through a fence after skidding off the runway.
“Customers deplaned via aircraft slides and have moved to the terminal on buses,” Delta Airlines said in a statement. “Our priority is ensuring our customers and crew members are safe. Delta will work with all authorities and stakeholders to look into what happened in this incident.”
Passengers on the plane included New York Giants tight end Larry Donnell, who said he was “safe and sound” after the crash.
“I feel fine physically and hopefully all the other passengers did not have any significant injuries,” read a portion of Donnell’s statement. “We were all shocked and alarmed when the plane started to skid, but most importantly, as far as I know, all of the passengers and flight crew were able to exit the plane safely.”
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