Crews are working to remove a plane that slid off a runway at Pittsburgh International Airport Wednesday (February 10) night.
Officials told WPXI Delta Air Lines flight 2231, scheduled to fly to Atlanta, slid off a taxiway adjacent to the runway just before 6:30 p.m. A total of 77 passengers were on board but, fortunately, no injuries were reported as they were evacuated from the plane.
An airport spokesperson confirmed to WPXI that crews were continuing to work on removing the plane, but there was no impact to operations at the airport Thursday (February 11) morning.
Delta Air Lines flight 2231 is a Boeing 717, which has three seats on one side and two seats on the other in its main cabin area.
Pittsburgh experienced heavy snow showers Wednesday night, but it has not been confirmed whether inclement weather was a factor in the incident.
WPXI Severe Weather Team 11 Chief Meteorologist Stephen Cropper reports visibility at the time of the incident was less than a mile and there was at least an inch of snow on the ground in the Pittsburgh area.
The Delta plane slanted downward toward the nose after sliding off the taxiway and it took emergency crews several hours to arrive and evacuate passengers from the aircraft, according to WPXI reporters at the scene.
Crews were unable to use a slide to get passengers off the plane due to the angle the plane was facing and firefighters instead used ladders. Buses were used to shuttle the passengers back to the airport terminal after being evacuated.
WPXI spoke with a female passenger who claimed most people didn't panic at the time of the incident, instead assuming the plane just came to a stop.
Delta Air Lines released the following statement obtained by WPXI:
“While on taxi-out prior to departure,Delta flight 2231 from Pittsburgh to Atlanta exited the taxiway paved surface. Delta teams worked with the airport authority to safely transport customers back to the terminal. We apologize to our customers for the delay and inconvenience and are working to reaccommodate them as quickly as possible.”
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