EAST ELMHURST — Just moments before a Delta plane slid off the runway at LaGuardia Airport last week and crashed into a fence, crew members said the runway appeared "all white" and they didn't notice the plane braking, aviation officials said.
The plane's auto brakes were set to "max," but crew members didn't feel the brakes slowing the plane down, according to the preliminary investigation from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The crew's report could indicate a failure in the plane's anti-skid system that functions like a car's anti-lock breaks, Michael Barr, an aviation safety expert at the University of Southern California, said. However, he cautioned that there are so many factors involved in a crash investigation, that it's too soon to jump to any conclusions.
"It's the tip of the iceberg," he said. "You've got to get under water to see what really happened."
While the runway may have appeared coated with fresh powder, two flights had landed safely just a few minutes before Flight 1086. Both earlier flights reported that the braking action on the runway was good, the NTSB's investigation showed.
Just moments after touching down, the 28-year-old Boeing MD-88 veered left off the runway and skidded roughly 2,000 feet, the NTSB reported stated. The plane's left wing smashed into a fence, taking out nearly 100 feet of it down before the aircraft finally came to rest.
The plane's captain told the NTSB that he couldn't stop the plane from drifting left.
Five people were hospitalized, including two with serious injuries. Some 23 were treated at the scene.
