Holiday travel turned into a huge headache for passengers Monday evening at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport as an airplane landed safely, but slid right off the runway thanks to the first real burst of snow and ice this season.
"I go, to my buddy Timmy, I go, 'we're listing a little bit, I think we're in the mud. We're stuck,'" said Rich Ksenich of Albion, Pa.
Passengers aboard an Allegiant Air flight from St. Petersburg, Florida to Youngstown said it was a smooth landing.
"We had an excellent flight, landed safely, and once we landed, the plane just skidded off the runway while trying to take the turn, and got stuck in the grass," said Munir Shah of Youngstown.
Officials said the nose of the aircraft went off the taxiway, and the rest of the plane went with it, sliding off into the grass. Passengers had to stay on board an extra 45 to 50 minutes, until they and their luggage were bused back to the terminal.
It happened at the north end of the airport near runway 32 and toward Kings Graves Road.
"They explained to us what was going on, who was coming, how soon it would be, they were doing everything they could to get us off. The captain came back and talked to us, so they were absolutely fabulous," said Sheryl Cerni of Ashtabula.
Folks were happy to be home safely, but a long line of travelers was hoping to board a 7:05 p.m. flight back to Florida, but they're snowed in at least for the night.
"First they said that we might have to wait for a flight tonight. Then they said that they couldn't move the plane, and we have to get a flight tomorrow. And if we don't get on the flight tomorrow, the next available flight's gonna be Friday," said Stephanie Gibson, who was visiting family in Girard.
Vanessa Patel of Tampa, Fla., said she'll skip the headache again Tuesday, and just wait for the Friday flight.
"I didn't have to repay, usually the travel advisory you have to repay to book a different flight, but they did it for free for me, so I'm kind of glad about that," Patel said.
Allegiant employees passed out copies of the airline's customer care number and offered to refund people's money, or put them in a hotel for the night.
"It's fine that they delayed. It's fine they're going to take us to a hotel, but we don't know what time to be back here, and then you call this free number that they tell you to call, they don't even know what time," said David Lucas of Largo, Fla.
The plane was coming in from St. Petersburg, Fla., and landed at 6:05 p.m., according to Dan Dickten, director of aviation at the airport.
The plane was then taxiing on the taxiway when the pilot tried to turn right on taxi H-1. The turn may have been too wide, causing the nose gear and left main landing gear to go into the grass.
Dickten said the planes can hold about 150 passengers, and they are generally full at this time of year.
The passengers were taken from the plane to the terminal. No passengers were hurt, and the plane does not appear to be damaged.
