United Airways plane skids off Ottawa runway
Posted September 4, 2011 6:33 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A United Express plane carrying 44 people skidded off the runway on Sunday at Ottawa’s international airport.
Emergency and airport officials said all the passengers travelling from Chicago got off the plane safely and were taken into the terminal on city buses.
“No injuries, everybody is absolutely fine,” said Krista Kealey, the director of communications at the Ottawa airport.
It was not immediately clear what type of aircraft was involved.
Marc Messier, a spokesman for the Ottawa fire service posted on twitter that fire crews were working to contain a fuel spill from the damaged under carriage of the plane.
The plane was completely sitting on a grassy area surrounded by emergency vehicles. The plane appeared to be tipping up with the rear of the plane stuck in the grass and the nose elevated higher than normal.
One frightened passenger who tweeted from the plane said people were screaming as the plane skidded and a wing went into the dirt.
United Airlines did not have any immediate information on the mishap.
It’s not the first time a United plane has skidded off the runway in Ottawa.
In June, 2010 a United Express Brazilian-built Embraer 145 with 36 people aboard went off the runway. Three people were taken to hospital.
