United Airlines Commuter Jet Slides Off Runway in Maine, Rips Off Wheels in Snowy Landing

Any landing you can walk away from is a good one, as the old saw goes—but it's usually better when you don't have to have emergency services personnel help you off the plane. And that goes double for times when the firefighters don't need a ladder to reach the boarding door. Still, on the ground is on the ground—which is a place it seems likely that the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 4933 are very happy to be right now, after their commuter jet landed off the runway in rural Maine, ripping the landing gear off in the process.

The United Embraer EMB-145XR commuter jet, which was operated by regional carrier CommutAir under the United Express banner, took off from Newark Liberty International Airport this morning at 9:23am, according to Flight Aware, on a route that was scheduled to see it landing and at the gate in Presque Isle, Maine, at 11:30am. 

Things, quite obviously, did not go according to plan. According to WABI, the plane slid off the runway to the right after landing, apparently causing the landing gear to be sheared off as it came to a stop. 

Three of the 28 passengers reportedly suffered minor injuries, as did the pilot. 

Pictures posted to the Crown of Maine Facebook page show the crashed Embraer in vivid detail, lying flat on its belly on the snow. One image shows what appears to be fire fighters from the Presque Isle Fire Department aiding individuals off the aircraft, the damaged nose of the commuter jet clearly visible; the second shows the rear of the plane, with one set of the rear landing gear jammed up against the port side engine several feet above the ground.

The plane will stay on the runway until the Federal Aviation Administration has a chance to investigate, according to WABI. 

It's been a rough week for planes in America's Northeast; as The Drive reported earlier this day, two Southwest Airlines jets bumped into one another while on the ground in Newark on Saturday, while one week ago, another Southwest-flown aircraft whacked its wing against the ground in Connecticut while attempting to land during high winds. Weather may have been a factor in all three incidents, leading us to wonder, once again, what the hell Puxatawney Phil was smoking before he called an early end to winter this year.