Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are at Buffalo Niagara Airport after a United Express plane skidded off the runway late Sunday, thought to have been caused by a strong gust of wind as it touched down.
United Express Flight 3796 skidded about 300 feet off the tarmac and onto the grass in what was described as a frightening incident, but none of the 69 passengers 4 crew members were hurt.
The pilot initially said strong winds had blown the CRJ 700 jet off the runway which had flown from Washington DC.
The plane encountered ‘some high winds and went past the runway a little bit," United spokeswoman Jennifer Dohm said
Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority spokesman C. Douglas Hartmayer said a team from the airport’s crash fire rescue helped passengers off the plane who were then bussed to the airport terminal.
Hartmayer said the airport will be operating as normal on Monday.
It follows a similar incident Friday when a Westjet 737 plane skidded off the runway at Montreal.
Transportation Safety Board of Canada officials are still investigating the cause of that incident.
