June 3 (UPI) — The Boeing 737 carrying then-vice presidential candidate Mike Pence that slid off a runway in New York in October missed its planned touchdown point by nearly 2,000 feet, the National Transportation Safety Board said.
The agency released documents from its investigation into the Oct. 27 incident at LaGuardia Airport on Thursday. No injuries were reported by anyone on board.
The plane was coming from Fort Dodge, Iowa, where takeoff had been delayed because of bad weather in New York, and made a rough impact upon landing. Passengers reported the pilot slammed on the brakes and that they could smell burning rubber. The plane was about 66 feet off the ground over the end of the runway and skidded off the landing strip traveling about 45 mph, the NTSB said.
Members of the press, sitting at the back of the plane, said they could feel it fishtailing and sliding off the runway before stopping suddenly in grass. Pence said mud hit the cockpit windows.
Pence and the passengers exited through the back of the plane after it stopped.
The NTSB released 400 pages of documents pertaining to the incident and is expected to release a full report in at least several months. That report is expected to detail why the plane failed to land properly.
The documents indicate the speed brakes on the plane didn’t fully extend until after the plane had traveled 1,250 feet down the runway. A transcript of the cockpit voice recorder on the plane reveal the pilots believed they would be reprimanded after the plane came to a stop.
“We should have went around,” one pilot said.
“My career just ended,” the other said. “Mine too,” the first replied.
