CHICAGO — An American Airlines flight from Greensboro, North Carolina slid off a runway at O’Hare International Airport on Monday morning, as blowing snow was falling in the Chicago area.
American Eagle flight 4125, operated by Envoy Air, landed at O’Hare from PTI in Greensboro, around 8:30 a.m., and slid off the runway due to icy conditions, according to American Airlines spokeswoman Gianna Urgo.
“All 38 passengers and three crew members were deplaned from the aircraft and are now safely back in the terminal,” Urgo said in an email.
Passenger Joseph Lian shared a video showing the plane veering off the runway and into the grass after landing, and the right wing of the jet tipping onto the ground.
"It was crazy, it seemed like it was long but it happened so fast. At first, we were going to land and then he couldn’t land it so he said he’s going to try one more time," Lian told WFMY News 2's Adaure Achumba.
Lian was on board the flight with his mother and they were on their way to Chicago to catch a connecting flight onward to Hong-Kong and then to their final destination, Burma, for a family vacation.
"I went to look to see what the ground looked like and then I’d seen all the snow and I was like this does not look good. I took my phone out and started recording and I saw the front where he was about at the end of the runway. I was like we’re not going to make this and then the plane kind of swerved into the other side. Gladly the pilot did that and that saved us from landing where we were not supposed to land," added Lian.
"Gladly the wing was very strong to prevent it from not flipping over. I saw the pilot and he was pretty shaken up and I felt so bad for him but he did a great job just turning the plane like that and saving everyone else and no one was hurt or anything. The pilot did a great job and it’s going to be a long story to tell to my grandchildren one day," he concluded.
The Chicago Fire Department said crews responded to the incident, but everyone was off the plane by the time they arrived, and there were no injuries.
Snow has been falling in Chicago all morning, and O’Hare was reporting winds of about 20 mph, and gusts of up to 30 mph when the plane went off the runway.
The Chicago airport canceled about 500 flights heading its way including a late Monday afternoon flight from PTI.