Delta jet gets stuck in mud at Houston airport
Delta jet bound for Atlanta gets stuck in muddy area of Houston airport; nobody hurt
HOUSTON (AP) -- A Delta Air Lines jet returning to a gate at Houston's William P. Hobby Airport got stuck in the mud at the edge of a taxiway Monday morning.
No one on Delta Flight 4302, bound for Atlanta at 6:45 a.m., was hurt, Houston Airport System spokeswoman Darian Ward said.
Joe Williams, a spokesman for Pinnacle Airlines, Inc., which operates the Bombardier CRJ-900 aircraft that was being used for a Delta Connection flight, said it was carrying 76 passengers and a crew of four.
Ward said the incident didn't affect other flights, although Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said an airport runway was temporarily closed.
"The pilot reported a communication problem, returned to the gate but ended up taxiing on the grass, where the plan was stuck," Cory said.
Images from the scene showed the jet's front gear in the grass. The plane eventually was towed to a maintenance hangar to determine whether any repairs would be needed, Ward said.
Shuttle buses were dispatched to take the passengers back to the terminal for rebooking.
Hobby Airport, the smaller of Houston's two major airports, is a few miles southeast of downtown.
