An incoming United Airlines flight from Seattle skidded off the runway at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport Wednesday morning, according to officials. The incident occurred around 7:45 a.m., just after United Flight No. 1977 landed, reported the Chicago Tribune. The aircraft, a Boeing 737, managed to touch down safely, but soon started to slide along the runway until its two front wheels were in the grass.
Local news crews were able to talk to some of the passengers to hear their account of the incident.
"The pilot told us that we were still on some of the pavement, but it's not on the main part of the runway. It felt like a car sliding on ice," said passenger James Boer.
"We were coming in for the landing, it hit and it went a little farther than it should. That's when I was like, [it will] probably skid out a little bit. You could feel it, but it wasn't that bad," said Sean Phillips, another passenger.
The plane wasn't damaged and none of the passengers were injured, but they still needed to wait onboard the plane until emergency crews arrived.
"There was a Jeep that pulled up — four-wheel drive — all four wheels were spinning. So he had no traction at all. I can only imagine that airplane had zip traction," said Ken Sajeske, another passenger.
"The runway is so icy that the heavy equipment can't move the plane at this time, so they're trying to de-ice the runway," added Boer.
Since the plane was unable to go into reverse, the plane needed help getting back on the runway, and once on, was able to make it back to the gate without any assistance.
The FAA is investigating the incident, however, since the plane was in snowy and slick road conditions, it's believed the incident was simply the result of poor weather, according to CW's Chicago affiliate WGN-TV.
