Passenger jet slides off runway at Chicago airport
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-09 10:35

A Southwest Airlines flight from Baltimore to Chicago slid off a runway at Midway International Airport and onto a nearby street as it attempted to land amid heavy snow and wind, authorities said.

Although there were no immediate reports of injuries on the plane Thursday, at least one person was seriously hurt in a vehicle on the ground, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford told WMAQ-TV.

The accident happened about 7:15 p.m. (0115 GMT) when Southwest Flight 1248 inbound from Baltimore slid off the runway, crashed through the airport's boundary fence and stopped on part of a nearby street, according to the Federal Aviation Administration's regional office in Chicago.

A man who identified himself as an aircraft mechanic at Midway told WBBM-AM radio that the plane's nose gear had collapsed, at least one of the engines was damaged and the jet appeared to have been hit by a vehicle.