Plane stuck in mud after sliding off runway at Midway Airport
BY JAMES SCALZITTI SUN-TIMES MEDIA WIRE April 26, 2011 8:36PM
Updated: September 24, 2012 6:25AM
An incoming Southwest Airlines jet slid off a runway Tuesday at Midway Airport and got stuck in the mud.
No one was injured when the Boeing 737 slid off the left end side of the runway about 1:30 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Flight 1919 originated in Denver.
“It was a really rough landing,” said passenger Charles Moelter of Oak Park. “You looked out the window and all you could see was spray. It was pretty scary.”
He said there was water “everywhere” on the runway. “There were huge puddles,” which he described as being like little ponds.
Moelter credited the pilot for making a safe landing.
“He swerved really hard at the end of the runway and went into the mud, and not into the embankment” at the end of the runway. Fire Department personnel hooked a portable staircase to the side of the plane and the 144 people aboard were able to walk down the stairs, officials said.
