Jet Stopped Just Short of Water at LaGuardia

Delta jet skids off runway while landing; no serious injuries
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 5, 2015 11:12 AM CST
Updated Mar 5, 2015 2:35 PM CST
Plane Skids Off LaGuardia Runway
In this image released by the New York Fire Department, a Delta plane rests on a berm near the water at LaGuardia Airport.   (AP Photo/New York Fire Department)

It was a scary close: A Delta plane skidded off a runway at LaGuardia Airport while landing today and stopped just short of an icy bay. The jet with about 130 people aboard came to rest on an embankment near the water's edge. No serious injuries were reported, though an FDNY spokesperson says 24 people suffered minor injuries. The plane landed about 11:10am in snowy weather, but veered off the runway toward Flushing Bay and into a fence. The executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the airport runway had been plowed and two other pilots reported good braking conditions minutes earlier. “I think the pilot did everything he could to slow the aircraft down,” he added.

“We just crash landed at LGA. I’m terrified,” tweeted passenger Jaime Primak. Later, she wrote, “We have all been evacuated.Everyone is safe." Another passenger, Jared Faellaci, posted an image on Facebook, writing, "2 seconds more we would have been in the water!" Authorities say a fuel leak that erupted after the landing was quickly brought under control, reports the New York Times. (More Delta Air Lines stories.)

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