There’s been some icy weather across the United States in the past couple of days and it seems like a plane just skidded off the runway due to these conditions. A Southwest plane bound for Jamaica just skidded off the runway an hour (or so) ago at Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI). Thankfully no one on the plane was injured and the passengers are being re-accommodated on another aircraft to Jamaica. The aircraft was apparently already delayed due to mainetance, and we still don’t know the reason for the skid just yet. However, I suspect it was just the conditions. There is quite a bit of sleet and snow coming down in parts of the Northeast this morning……
Here are some live tweets from one of the passengers on board the aircraft:
Skidded off the runway at BWI…responders still checking us out https://t.co/7rR8R2Rqem
— Lilith Christiansen (@LilithVirginia) February 7, 2018
— Lilith Christiansen (@LilithVirginia) February 7, 2018
The incident didn’t go without its uproar though because passengers were asked to leave their personal belongings and bags on the aircraft before disembarking. I understand that safety is of the utmost priority, but I don’t quite understand this move given that the aircraft was already checked out for any other problems before the passengers disembarked. It’s not like there was a serious threat of a fire or anything right? I guess protocol is protocol sometimes and it would set some dangerous precedents for future incidents where the aircraft was or could be flammable.
HT: The Baltimore Sun