Shuttle America RJ Runs Off Cleveland Runway

Feb. 20, 2007
The plane came to a stop more than 150 feet past the end of the runway. The engines were partially buried in snow and the tip of the plane's nose was resting on a perimeter roadway.

A commuter plane carrying more than 70 people ran off the end of a snowy runway and pierced a fence after landing at the Cleveland airport Sunday, officials said. No injuries were reported.

The plane came to a stop more than 150 feet past the end of the runway, airport spokeswoman Pat Smith said. The engines were partially buried in snow and the tip of the plane's nose was resting on a roadway the airport uses to get to perimeter buildings, she said.

The cause was not yet known, said Smith. Visibility was reduced to about a quarter- to half-mile because of the snow, said Dan Leins, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Three people onboard the Embraer 170 asked to be checked out at a hospital as a precaution, Smith said.

The flight, traveling from Atlanta to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, landed around 3 p.m. It was operated by Shuttle America, a Delta Connection carrier, said Thonnia Lee, a spokeswoman for Delta Air Lines Inc.

The airport was closed for about an hour and a half and some planes were diverted to other cities, Smith said. The runway where the incident occurred will be closed indefinitely, she said.

Another aircraft that landed on the runway about eight minutes before reported no braking problems, she said.

The National Transportation Safety Board was on site to investigate, Smith said.

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