Allegiant Air jet skids off snowy South Dakota runway

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No one was hurt when an Allegiant Air passenger jet skidded off a snowy runway in South Dakota.

Allegiant spokeswoman Krysta Levy says Flight 456 carrying 155 passengers and six crew members from Las Vegas touched down at Sioux Falls Regional Airport just before noon Sunday when heavy snow and crosswinds caused the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 to slide 20 feet (6 metres) off the runway.

Levy says passengers walked down the plane’s rear stairs and were taken by buses to the terminal. She says no one was injured.

Maintenance workers are inspecting the jetliner. Levy says the plane came to rest with its front wheels in a patch of grass, and remained upright and level.

She says the return flight to Las Vegas was cancelled because of deteriorating weather in Sioux Falls.