A plane carrying vice presidential nominee Mike Pence skidded off the runway in the rain Thursday night at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, coming to a stop on the adjacent grass. No injuries were reported, and Pence was seen speaking to emergency responders and the press corps seated at the back of the plane, according to CNN.The Boeing 737 operated by the Trump campaign had departed from Fort Dodge, Iowa, but was delayed due to poor weather. It made a hard impact just before 8 p.m. in New York and passengers aboard told WPIX they could smell burning rubber as the pilots slammed on the brakes.“We could feel the plane moving, and it was not a natural landing that you would experience,” said CNN producer Elizabeth Landers, who was among the press corps on the plane.
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The airport was closed after the accident.
Pence was traveling to New York to attend a closed-door fundraiser at Trump Tower. That event was cancelled, but the governor said he’d be back on the campaign trail Friday.
“Governor Pence and everyone on board the plane is fine,” a Pence spokesperson said. “Thankfully some great work by the Port Authority and all the airport authorities, the dedicated flight attendants, there were no injuries. The governor is obviously heading to end the evening and he’ll be back out on the campaign trail tomorrow.”The impact was severe enough to cause visible damage to the runway. The campaign said there was no structural damage to the plane.
The flight had initially been delayed long enough for the governor to kill some time throwing a football.