Plane Runs Off Runway At Cleveland Airport

Sunday, February 18th 2007, 4:12 pm

By: News On 6

CLEVELAND (AP) _ A commuter plane carrying more than 70 people ran off the end of a runway and pierced a fence after landing at the Cleveland airport Sunday, officials said. No injuries were reported.

The flight, traveling from Atlanta to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, landed around 3 p.m., said Thonnia Lee, a spokeswoman for Delta Air Lines Inc. The flight was operated by Shuttle America, a Delta Connection carrier, she said.

The cause was not yet known, airport spokeswoman Pat Smith said.

It was snowing at the time, with visibility at about a quarter- to a half-mile, said Dan Leins, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland.

Three people onboard the Embraer 170 asked to be checked out at a hospital as a precaution, Smith said.

Smith said the plane skidded and pierced through a fence before coming to a stop more than 150 feet past the end of the runway. The engines were partially buried in snow and the tip of the plane's nose was resting on a roadway the airport uses to get to perimeter buildings, she said.

The airport was closed for about an hour and a half and some planes were diverted to other cities, Smith said. The runway where the incident occurred will be closed indefinitely, she said.

Another aircraft that landed on the runway about eight minutes before reported no braking problems, she said.

The National Transportation Safety Board was on site to investigate, Smith said.