Expand / Collapse search
☰

Two planes slide on snowy runways at O'Hare

Published  March 1, 2016 9:50pm CST
News
FOX 32 Chicago

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - Winter weather caused a couple of 'whoa' moments at O'Hare Tuesday once a corporate jet that slid off the runway. The other was a commercial flight that suffered the same landing scare just minutes apart. Fortunately, no one was injured in either case.

“I got a couple of alerts on my phone that said two planes skidded off the runway at O'Hare,” said Tom Pollard, who was flying in from Washington D.C.

But was he worried about landing with that in mind?

“Doesn't make me feel any worse. I've flown enough in here so not a problem at all,” Pollard said.

And that was the overwhelming sentiment from people at O'Hare.

“You know I feel like flying is like the safest mode of transportation out there,” said Brad Dakake, who flew in from Philadelphia.

Aviation experts say pilots always have the option to cancel a landing if they feel conditions are not safe.

“I think today’s storm caught quite a lot of people by surprise, because it was that steady snow but it didn't seem to accumulate. So I think maybe some assumptions were made that things weren't as slick as they were, you know cause these two incidents minutes apart, that's a rare thing,” said Joe Schwieterman, a DePaul University Aviation Expert.

Rare, yes, when you consider the tens of thousands flights that take off and land at O'Hare every month without problems. But in the last two months, two other planes have skidded off runways at O'Hare during wintery weather. Still, it's never comforting to hear about planes going off runways just before you land.

“I mean it's really scary, I'm just glad everyone was OK,” said Cassidy Pazyniak, arriving from Philadelphia.

“You know, it's really upsetting but also if it's not safe to fly, you should just spend the night at the airport instead of spending the night at the morgue,”said Hugo Rinfret, who was delayed on his flight from San Francisco.

Still, most travelers feel safe when flying, even landing at O’Hare on snowy days.

“I mean it's part of living in Chicago,” said Chris Pollard, arriving from Washington D.C.

The FAA told FOX 32 News that it does not have specific statistics about the number of planes that have gone off runways at O’Hare in recent years, but it stressed those incidents are rare.