Delta’s Boeing 717 Delayed After Running Off The Taxiway In Pittsburgh

On the 10th of February, a Boeing 717 which is being run by Delta Airlines ran off the paved taxiway at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT). The incident happened when the flight was about to depart, but this event delayed its departure.

A Delta Boeing 717 registered as N998AT landed in Pittsburgh at 16:31 as DL2231 after an unexciting flight. Due to a change of plans at the Pennsylvania airport, the aircraft was supposed to fly back to Atlanta with 77 passengers on board, including crew. The flight was scheduled to depart at 17:40 to head back to Atlanta.

At 18:26 local time, the aircraft came off of Taxiway Foxtrot near the end of Runway 10R. Images of the incident posted on social media showed heavy snow on the runway. As at this time, authorities didn’t know if the anomaly was weather-related or not especially due to the snow. The authorities are sure going to look into this deeply for the sake of future flights which may experience such. 

At first, travelers were not able to exit the plane by front doors, after a short time they were eventually evacuated through the rear doors by the firefighters and first responders at the Terminal. Commenting on the incident, a Delta Airlines spokesperson told Simple Flying,

“While on taxi-out prior to departure, Delta flight 2231 from Pittsburgh to Atlanta exited the taxiway paved surface. Delta teams worked with the airport authority to safely transport customers back to the terminal. We apologize to our customers for the delay and inconvenience and are working to re-accommodate them as quickly as possible.”