Jet Slides Off O’Hare Runway, 129 Passengers Evacuated Amidst Winter Storm

 Posted on January 19, 2019 in Aviation Litigation

An inbound United Airlines flight with 129 people on board slid off a runway at O’Hare International Airport Saturday afternoon according to the Chicago Fire Department. Shortly after the plane came to rest, Chicago Firefighters assisted in getting the passengers deplaned from the aircraft which had taken off from Phoenix hours earlier.

Although the Chicago Department of Aviation indicated other aircraft had landed safely on the runway just minutes before the attempted landing, snow had been falling for sometime after a winter storm descended upon Chicagoland Friday night and dumped five inches of snow on O’Hare by noon, according to the National Weather Service. At the time local media outlets reported the incident, Department officials indicated that it was in the process of working with United Airlines and City officials to recover the aircraft.

The past year has been chaotic for many passengers, including those who boarded an Aeromexico flight which crashed, injuring more than 80 people and sending dozens to the hospital. According to the BBC, there were twelve times as many plane crash fatalities in 2018 compared to 2017.

Pets did not fare much better in 2018. Last May, United Airlines confirmed a passenger's 10-month-old puppy died after suffocating in an overhead bin after an employee forced the dog's owner to put the carrier and its occupant in the overhead compartment.