The recent snow and ice have caused problems for many travelers, and today a plane full of passengers slipped off a runway in Montana due to the bad weather conditions. The incident happened at Montana’s Missoula International Airport after freezing rain was reported in the area.
Although the incident was scary for the 44 passengers onboard the Delta Connection Flight 4600, nobody was injured. The passengers were removed from the plane and taken back to the airport on shuttle buses.
“We don’t know for sure what happened, but it is winter and there was snow removal going on. It’s very likely winter conditions contributed to it,” said SkyWest spokesman Wes Horrocks.
Investigators spent several hours trying to determine if the plane was damaged in the accident and found that it was not. The nose gear of the Canadair regional jet went off the side of the runway but did not hit anything and was therefore safe for flight.
The plane left the airport later that afternoon at about 11:20 a.m. and arrived in Salt Lake City at 12:30 p.m. and experienced no other problems.
When weather conditions get too bad, most airports will cancel flights or at the very least, delay them until the weather clears up. Although there had been snow and ice in Montana the same day as the plane accident, SkyWest had not canceled any flights due to the weather and no other planes experienced any problems.
SkyWest explained that in spite of the ice and snow, the pavement had been sanded and the breaking conditions on the runways were good. Investigators believe that the plane may have hit an icy patch on the runway, which caused it to slide off the side.
Have you ever had a flight delayed because of bad weather?
Image via Wikimedia Commons