Icy surfaces may have contributed to a Delta 717 sliding off the runway at Green Bay Austin Straubel Airport (GRB) on Saturday.
Pictured above: a Delta Air Lines 717 is seen during wintery conditions in Fargo, ND (FAR)
Delta 1770 was scheduled to depart GRB at 5:35 AM for a trip to Atlanta.
“We noticed [the plane] was going pretty fast around the corner and slid a little bit,” passenger Jake Liebergen told WBAY. “And out of our window we saw snow coming and before we knew it, we were right in the snow and the plane tipped.”
Freezing Drizzle was reported around the time the plane slid off. https://t.co/N0Bm0SEs0T
— Brandon365Wx (@Brandon365Wx) January 4, 2020
Fox 11 reports 107 passengers were aboard the flight. No injuries were reported. Delta says passengers were deplaned, boarded buses back to the terminal, and reaccommodated on other flights.
WBAY says freezing drizzle was present Saturday morning and “caused several crashes” (we assume they mean automobiles).
FlightRadar24 data tells us the affected aircraft is ship N946AT. Apparently, any damage must have been minimal; the aircraft resumed passenger flights the next day.
A Costly Slip for Some Passengers?
A few passengers were trying to escape the cold weather when DL1770 slid off the taxiway. One couple was on en route to their wedding.
Another traveler, Jeff Tilkens was with a buddy and heading to Nicaragua. “We ended up paying $288 for hotels that we shouldn’t have had to pay for and were [sic?] missing a day of vacation,” he said.
I found that rather interesting.
That sounds — to me, at least — as though Delta is chalking this up to weather issue and won’t assume any responsibility.
So what’s the lesson here?
The hotel (and any other delay-related) costs would likely have been covered by travel insurance. A credit card offering trip interruption benefits (such as Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Preferred) that paid for even a portion of the trip would likely reimburse those expenses, too.
— Chris
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Is there travel insurance with the Delta Reserve card?
@Kathy: As of January 1, yes. But the entire fare must be paid with the Delta Reserve card. The Chase options mentioned above require you only pay with an eligible card a portion of the ticket. I know people who use their Chase Sapphire Reserve® cards to pay the fees and taxes on award tickets.