The Delta Air Lines Inc. jet that skidded off a runway, struck an embankment and crashed through a chain-link fence while landing at New York’s La Guardia Airport on Thursday is the latest example of the most frequent type of airliner accident world-wide.
The event highlights the hazards of so-called runway excursions, when planes veer off the side or the end of a strip, particularly in bad weather.
The number of runway excursions has climbed sharply in recent years to become the primary cause of major damage to airliners around the globe, though they rank relatively low as causes of fatalities. According to experts and accident databases, runway excursions have accounted for nearly half of all major commercial crashes globally since the 1990s, but less than a sixth of overall fatalities.
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