Allegiant flight bound for Las Vegas slides off taxi strip
Local Allegiant Air passengers returning from Wichita, Kan. — or arriving in Las Vegas for an early start to New Year’s Eve — ended up getting in a little later than expected.
Allegiant Flight 405, scheduled to leave Wichita’s Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport for McCarran International Airport on Sunday night, slid off a taxi strip and got stuck in ice and snow in a grassy area at the airport. No one was injured in the incident.
The airline said a special flight to fly the 161 passengers and six crew members from Wichita departed at 7 p.m. Monday.
An Allegiant spokeswoman said the twin-engine MD-80 jet left the gate at 11:23 p.m. Sunday. As the plane was taxiing, weather conditions worsened and the aircraft’s right wheel left the paved taxi strip. Passengers disembarked and were shuttled to local hotels. They were offered a $100 voucher for future travel and had the option of changing their reservations with no additional fee or getting a refund.
The rescheduled flight, which was re-listed as Flight 5405, landed in Las Vegas at 7:35 p.m. Monday, according to Allegiant.
An account of the incident on the Wichita Eagle website Monday said the taxiway remained closed, but was not affecting operations at the airport.
The airport’s website said there were 17 cancellations and four flight delays because of the weather.
Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter. Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.
