Delta Flight 1086 Skids Off Runway During Landing
Earlier today, a Delta Air Lines jetliner attempted to land during a snowstorm at New York’s LaGuardia Airport and ended up sliding off the runway and striking a fence before coming to a stop at the edge of Flushing Bay. Luckily, there were no serious injuries reported, other than just some cuts and bruises.
The entire plane was evacuated safely, 127 passengers and five crewmembers aboard slid down evacuation tubes and moved to the airport terminal on buses out of harms way.
The Delta flight 1086 was landing at LaGuardia after a morning travel from Atlanta, Georgia.
Images on emerged all over media outlets showing the plane resting on a snow-covered area with its nose completely smashed through a chain-link fence. Fortunately, the plane didn’t come close to making contact with the water after veering off the tarmac more than halfway down the 7,000-foot runway, said Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the airport’s operator.
“I think the pilot did everything he could to slow the aircraft down,” Foye said at a news conference. “Obviously, the pilot’s and the co-pilot’s good efforts were reflected in the fact that there were only minor injuries”, he added.
On a side note, one of the passengers aboard the plane was current New York Giant Larry Donnell.
“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,” the tight end said in a statement released by the Giants.
Earlier in the day, the Port Authority had said there were 125 passengers on the plane, but that number was later revised upward.