A plane slipped off a runway and skidded into the snow at Kennedy Airport Sunday morning as an icy rain coated the city, causing the airport to close temporarily, officials said.
Delta Air Flight 4100 from Toronto was carrying about 35 people when it arrived at Terminal 2, gate C66 around 8 a.m., officials and passengers said. No injuries were reported.
“The aircraft slipped off a taxiway and onto a grassy area while taxiing to the terminal,” Delta spokeswoman Kristin Baur said. “The aircraft was towed to the gate and passengers were deplaned at the terminal.”
Atin Goel, 25, of midtown Manhattan, was sitting by the wing when he noticed the plane making an abrupt turn.
“I was looking out by the wing when I noticed it took a sharp turn and slipped off the runway,” said Goel, who had taken the plane from Toronto. “The turn was a little sudden. We weren’t going that fast.”
Dea SiTorus, 22, said she found it strange that the plane ended up in the snow.
“I noticed it landed just a bit off course,” SiTorus said. “It was in the snow. I thought it was a bit strange.”
Passengers had to stay in the plane for an hour, until emergency crews arrived with a ladder.
Errol Cos, 20, of Queens, said he didn’t realize anything was wrong until the pilot made an announcement.
“The pilot announced that we should not be alarmed, that we slid off the runway,” Cos said. “He said it was an emergency but I wasn’t scared. I saw that we weren’t in the runway. We were stuck in snow. But everyone was OK.”
Friends Annie, 24, and Marisa, 24, said they also didn’t realize the plane was on snow until the pilot told them.
“The pilot told us that the plane slid off. He asked us to keep calm,” Annie said. “I didn’t know anything had gone wrong.”
“We were just there for an hour,” Marisa added.
Eight flights were diverted to a Connecticut airport because of icy runways and the morning mishap, officials said. The airport was reopened by about 10:15.
With Joel Landau
