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US Passenger Plane Slides Off Runway, Injuring Several People

Posted on: Friday, 9 December 2005, 09:00 CST

US passenger plane slides off runway, injuring several people

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- A US Southwest Airlines passenger plane slid off the runway at Chicago's Midway International Airport, then went through a fence into a busy street Thursday evening.

The accident occurred when the Boeing 737 jetliner from Baltimore, Maryland, was trying to land during a heavy snowstorm in Chicago, Illinois, hitting at least one vehicle on the street.

All 98 passengers and five crew members aboard the plane, flight 1248, were safe, but three children and two adults in two involved cars were reportedly injured, CNN reported.

The plane's nose gear collapsed, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) official said.

It had been snowing all day in Chicago and visibility was poor at the time of the landing.

There were approximately 20 centimeters of snow on the ground in Chicago by early evening.

Midway airport, Chicago's second largest, lies in a dense residential and commercial district of the city. It was closed down after the incident and was expected to reopen early Friday morning, the FAA said.

Southwest Airlines has more than 400 aircraft, all them Boeing 737.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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