A Frontier Airlines plane slid off the end of the runway at Reagan National Airport Friday night.
Flight 538 from Denver was arriving at the airport at about 10:30 p.m. when the incident happened, Micah Lillard of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said.
The A320 Airbus had landed before stopping in a grassy area off the end of Runway 1. A Frontier Airlines spokesperson said 151 passengers and six crewmembers were on board. Passengers left the aircraft using its stairs and were bused to the terminal around midnight.
Passenger Samuel Rodier told WTOP that the flight was delayed in arriving to D.C. As the plane prepared to land at the airport, he said it came down fast and “a little bit hot,” which made it harder to slow down.
“It was a little bit scary for the passenger next to me; this is their first time flying,” Rodier said. “So it was a little bit scary. We had to like grab the seat in front of us because of all the shaking and the haltering.”
However, once the aircraft was able to safely stop, the crew and pilot kept passengers updated on what was going on, Rodier said. He thanked everyone working on the plane for all their hard work before and after the landing.
“Everyone is safe,” Rodier said. “We’re glad we made it in safely, and we’re grateful the pilot was able to pull it off.”
There were no reported injuries on the flight. The plane was removed from the grass and moved towards the gate after all the passengers were removed. All the runways were reopened after the aircraft was moved.
There are no operational impacts to the airport at this time, Lillard said.
WTOP’s Luke Garrett contributed to this report.
