KLM flight slides off taxiway into grass
A KLM aircraft headed from Amsterdam to Madrid skidded onto the grass along the taxiway while readying for takeoff at Schiphol Airport Tuesday morning. There were no injuries amongst the 116 people onboard the Boeing 737.
"At this moment we are not sure of the cause, but we are looking into it; it's standard procedure," explained Ruempol. One passenger onboard the plane suggested in a message posted to Twitter that a slick taxiway caused the plane to slide into the muddy grass. Freezing temperatures in the morning hours also caused icy problems on Dutch highways on Tuesday. Flight KL-1701 was taxiing towards the the start of the Zwanenburgbaan runway when the plane veered off track at about 9:50 a.m. All passengers made it out of the aircraft without incident when the plane was evacuated. According to KLM spokesperson Joost Ruempol, passenger safety was not compromised by the incident.
"All passengers were disembarked and flown to their destination with other aircraft," Ruempol said. At the time of the incident, there were 110 passengers on the plane and six crew members, including the cockpit. Madrid was the flight's final destination. There were no delays to other KLM flights as a result, and the Dutch airline is currently investigating the reason for the plane's divergence off the runway.
