Plane skids off runway at Milwaukee airport; no serious injuries reported

Sunday, January 21st 2007, 3:39 pm

By: News On 6

MILWAUKEE (AP) _ A jet with 104 people on board skidded off a runway in snowy weather Sunday after the Northwest Airlines crew aborted the flight as it began accelerating for takeoff, airline officials said.

No serious injuries were reported in the late-morning incident. One passenger on the DC-9 was treated for a sore back, airline officials said.

The crew of Flight 1726 bound for Detroit ``opted to discontinue its takeoff due to an engine problem,'' the airline said in a statement. The plane came to a stop off the runway surface, the statement said.

The plane skidded when the pilot applied the brakes, said Pat Rowe, spokeswoman for General Mitchell International Airport. The aircraft came to a stop on the grass by the runway.

Rowe said that snowplow crews had been working all morning but that she did not know how much snow was on the runway at the time.

About 2 1/2 inches of snow had fallen at the airport as of noon, according to the National Weather Service.

The 99 passengers and five crew members were bused back to the terminal with their luggage.

The airport was closed for 35 minutes afterward, officials said.