Jet slides off runway at O’Hare International Airport; no one injured

No one was injured Saturday when a jet with 129 people on board slid off a runway at O’Hare International Airport during Chicago’s first snowstorm of the year.

About noon, an inbound United Airlines flight from Phoenix went off the runway into a grassy area, Chicago Fire Dept. Deputy District Chief Curtis Hudson said. Firefighters helped evacuate the jet.

The plane did not slide far off the runway and was in no distress, Hudson said.

The Chicago Department of Aviation said other aircraft had landed safely on runway 4R/22L just minutes before United Airlines flight 656 skidded off of it.

“No injuries have been reported and passengers have been deplaned safely,” the Chicago Department of Aviation said in a statement. “We are in the process of working with United Airlines and our city partners to recover the aircraft.”

The jet likely slid off the runway because of the stormy conditions, Hudson said.

A winter storm hit the Chicago area Friday night and dumped five inches of snow on O’Hare by noon Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.