Southwest Plane Nearly Goes Off Taxiway At BWI Airport
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Southwest Airlines plane nearly went off a taxiway Wednesday morning just before it was set to depart from BWI Airport.
The plan had nearly 150 people on board at the time it skid to the edge of a BWI taxiway, and airport officials say this morning's icy weather wasn't to blame.
The airport says the runway it was set to leave from was more than warm enough to fly, with 75 other flights departing off the runway where the problem happened.
The pilot knew there was a problem just moments before takeoff.
PILOT: "Hello, tower. Southwest 906. We have an issue here at the stop."
ATC: "OK 906, Roger that. Roger."
Southwest Flight 906 to Montego Bay, Jamaica, had 143 passengers and six crew members on board as it skid nearly off a taxiway at BWI Thurgood Marshall Sirport on an icy Wednesday morning.
PILOT: "Yeah, we're going to need a tug backwards"
ATC: "Ok, yeah, you guys went over the taxiway then?"
PILOT: "It's hard to tell."
Passengers and witnesses lit up social media from the ground right away.
Photos show the plane tail up, tilting into the grass.
One passenger told WJZ's Devin Bartolotta that travelers on board felt the plane jog to the right, and then brake hard, before coming to a stop.
BWI insists the icy weather was not a factor.
"Weather and airfield conditions were not a factor," said Jonathan Dean, with BWI Airport "The airfield temperatures were well above freezing at that point."
In a statement, Southwest Airlines said no one was hurt and all passengers were soon on another flight to Montego Bay.
The investigation into what caused this incident on the taxiway is ongoing.
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