Storm makes highways slippery in Colorado and Nebraska, airliner slides off runway

<br>OMAHA, Neb. (AP) _ An airliner slid off a runway as a storm spread more than 7 inches of sleet and snow across parts of Nebraska. No one was injured. <br><br>The storm, which hit late Sunday, also

Monday, March 25th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) _ An airliner slid off a runway as a storm spread more than 7 inches of sleet and snow across parts of Nebraska. No one was injured.

The storm, which hit late Sunday, also led to canceled classes Monday at some schools, including the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The American Airlines plane slid off a runway at Eppley Airfield after it landed on a flight from St. Louis late Sunday.

``The landing itself was smooth, but you could tell that the ice was having an effect,'' passenger Jeanne Tostenson said. ``It wasn't an abrupt stop.''

Other passengers said they could feel the plan fishtailing before it stopped.

``It was a pretty weird and eerie feeling,'' passenger Troy Hays said.

The fast-moving storm also had coated eastern Colorado with ice and up to 7 inches of snow, closing Interstate 70 between Limon, Colo., and the Kansas state line for more than 13 hours. Westbound lanes remained closed Monday morning.

Kansas got up to 6 inches of snow and parts of Iowa collected 4 inches.