Delta Air Lines Plane Slips Off Icy Taxiway at Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport Amid Winter Snowstorm

An American Airlines plane is de-iced as high winds whip around 7.5 inches of new snow at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Dec. 22, 2022. David Joles/Star Tribune via AP

A Delta Air Lines plane slid off a Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport runway on Jan. 3 amid icy conditions bought on by a powerful winter storm, officials said.

The incident came as the aircraft was taxiing to its assigned gate after landing at the airport in the midst of a snowstorm. The plane made a 90-degree turn toward the gate when it slid. None of the 147 passengers or crew members onboard were injured during the incident.

According to the airport, the nose gear of the aircraft, an Airbus A320, slid off the taxiway at 6:40 p.m. local time and into thick snow.

“Unrelated to that incident, runways were closed an hour later due to excessive freezing drizzle,” the airport said in a post on Twitter on Wednesday. One runway reopened at around 9:15 p.m. later on Tuesday and the airport has since resumed usual operations.

Jeff Lea, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, told the Star Tribune that it took roughly an hour to get the passengers off the plane and bused back to the terminal.

The aircraft, meanwhile, remained stuck in the snow between 9 and 10 p.m., when crews were able to remove it from the taxiway close to the north end of the runway, Lea said.

Travel website The Thrifty Traveler reported that the plane was removed from the taxiway roughly three hours after it got stuck. The aircraft was coming from Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, according to reports.

Delta Air Lines confirmed the incident in a statement to multiple media outlets.

Stranded travelers search for their luggage at the Southwest Airlines Baggage Claim at Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on Dec. 27, 2022. Jim Vondruska/Getty Images

Winter Storm Brings Travel Chaos

The incident came as the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport received 12 inches (25 centimeters) of snow on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

That resulted in 435 delayed flights at the airport on Wednesday, and 126 cancellations, according to the live flight tracker, FlightAware.

The powerful winter storm that has swept across the United States in recent weeks has caused thousands of flight cancellations and delays at airports across the country amid one of the busiest holiday periods.

Earlier this week, Southwest Airlines offered 25,000 frequent-flyer points, worth more than $300, to customers who were impacted by the more than 15,000 flight cancellations over the Christmas holidays.

In an email to customers, the airline’s CEO Bob Jordan said: “This holiday season, as you made plans with us to do just that, we fell short. For that, please accept my personal apology.”

“I know that no amount of apologies can undo your experience. For those who have requested refunds, reimbursements and/or are waiting to be reunited with your lost bag(s), those processes are being handled with great urgency and we appreciate your patience.”

The frequent-flyer points are available to those who had flights canceled or delayed for more than three hours between Dec. 24, 2022, and Jan. 2, 2023, and have no expiration or blackout date.

The Department of Transportation earlier said that Southwest Airlines was at fault for the delays and cancellations that left thousands of passengers stranded, with the department stating that the delays were caused by “circumstances within the airline’s control.”

One of the passengers left stranded over Christmas by the airline has filed a lawsuit claiming that the carrier failed to immediately provide refunds to passengers and instead offered him and his daughter credit when their flight to Portland, Oregon from New Orleans was canceled, and they were unable to book alternative travel.

Southwest told CBS MoneyWatch that efforts to refund passengers affected by the holiday travel chaos were underway.

“There are several high-priority efforts underway to do right by our customers, including processing refunds from canceled flights, and reimbursing customers for expenses incurred as a result of the irregular operations,” the airline said in a statement.