Delta plane slides along Fort Wayne airport runway

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – A Delta Air Lines plane taxiing at Fort Wayne International Airport slid along the runway Tuesday night.

The 51 passengers headed toward Atlanta, Georgia, were forced to get off the plane. No one was hurt.

Delta Air Lines flight 3526 was scheduled to take off at 5:31 p.m. Tuesday. Instead, slick conditions left the runway too slippery for takeoff. It was closed for about an hour as airport staff worked to treat the runway.

The executive director of airports for FWA, Scott Hinderman, said during a press conference, “The aircraft slid where the nose wheel of the aircraft hit the shoulder of the pavement. At that point, it couldn’t continue forward.”

Layne Watson, a spokesperson for SkyWest Airlines, which operates in partnership with Delta Air Lines said, “The aircraft did not actually slide off of the runway. It came to a stop in a snowbank on the taxiway.” 

Hinderman said the chemical used to treat the runway had been diluted because of the rain and made conditions icy. 

Hinderman said staff worked to pull the Delta aircraft to the terminal and treat the runway. Delta flight 3526 was rescheduled to take off at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.