Incident Closes Airport Sunday Afternoon

All 118 passengers and five crewmembers onboard a Southwest Airlines 737 are safe, after the plane apparently slid off a snow-slicked taxiway after landing at Washington's Spokane International Airport (GEG) Sunday afternoon.

The Associated Press reports Flight 485, inbound from Portland, OR, was taxiing to the gate at around 1:40 pm when the plane's nosegear departed the snow-covered taxiway.

That account differed from one passenger's statements, however. Tad Dixon told Spokane television station KREM-2 the aircraft slid off the runway on landing.

"As we touched down and were trying to brake, the plane started to slide sideways and sure enough, we slid off the end of the runway," Dixon said, talking on his cell phone while still onboard the stricken plane. "Everyone came to a roaring applause that we were safe."

Another passenger emailed the station, writing "one Alaska Air jet did land behind us" immediately after the incident, "and stopped in time to avoid crashing into our plane."

Airport spokesman Todd Woodard told The Spokesman-Review newspaper heavy snow had been falling in the area since Saturday afternoon, and at the time of the incident a half-inch of wet snow covered the ground.

"We don't have any ice on the runway; we were pretty vigilant about that," Woodard added. The skidding plane did take out several runway lights.

The airport closed to inbound and outbound traffic until crews were able to move the stricken jet. Flights resumed shortly after 5:00 pm.

Southwest spokesperson Brandy King said an inspection of the plane didn't show any apparent damage, but the plane would remain grounded until a more-thorough investigation could be conducted. The airline suspended its operations at GEG for the rest of the day.

Mechanical failure is not suspected to be a factor in the incident, King added.

FMI: www.spokaneairports.com, www.southwest.com