Aviation investigators attributed pilot error as the cause of a plane skidding off an icy runway at New York LaGuardia last year.
Delta Airlines Flight 1086 hit a perimeter fence after veering off the runway in a snowstorm, slightly injuring six passengers.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilot applied too much reverse thrust.
NTSB chairman Christopher Hart called it ‘a very close call.’
However the Air Line Pilots Association took issue with the findings, saying the accident was caused by ‘a combination of factors.’
The report said that the captain and first officer were unprepared for the amount of snow at the airport, due to outdated weather information.
The reverse thrust was applied before the nose wheel hit the runway, which is an error in procedure.
The NTSB also found fault with evacuation procedure, saying it took 17 minutes for all passengers to deplane due to the captain’s ‘lack of urgency to evacuate the cabin.’
