LaGuardia Handles Recent Plane Skid PR Crisis Accordingly
A Delta Airlines flight caused a recent PR crisis and skidded off the runway this past Thursday, March 6th at the LaGuardia International Airport in Queens, New York. The plane coming from Atlanta broke through a fence and came to a halt a few feet away from the nearby Flushing Bay. A snowbank stopped the Delta Flight 1086 plane from plunging into the water. The plane was landing on LaGuardia Airport’s main runway. The plane didn’t actually lose control until it had already touched the ground and began to skid off the runway.
Passengers said that the pilot on the plane kept everyone calm and averted the tragedy. The Port Authority Police Crash, Fire Rescue unit handled the response immediately. Passengers sat for about 30 minutes in the plane before exiting. Communication is key in an airport at all times, especially when there is an accident that occurs. LaGuardia made sure all pilots new an accident occurred and that this was the first priority.
The airport cleared the runway of snow and ice right before the accident happened that day. Two other pilots that previously landed on the same runway claimed that there were good breaking conditions. LaGuardia shut down the day of the accident and reopened for some flights at 2 p.m. It made sense for them to shut down the airport due to the amount of emergency vehicles on the scene. The day after this accident LaGuardia posted two-hour delays and 95 canceled flights due to safety concerns.
Delta was working closely with authorities to figure out the exact cause of this recent crash. Updates have shown that brake problems may have occurred on the runway filled with snow. More tests are needed to completely confirm this cause. they are also looking into the exact amount of pressure applied to the brakes by the pilot. Investigators were also taking a closer look at the pilot to see if he was going too fast when attempting to land the plane. It was stated that the pilot did everything he could to control the plane to the best of his ability.
LaGuardia International Airport seemed to have handled this averted crisis well under pressure. They appropriately closed the airport to make sure everyone in the plane accident was taken care of first. The specific runway reopened once the plane was towed off the premise. The National Transportation Safety Board has also collected information from the digital flight data recorder on board.
