Crossair jet skids off runway in Sarajevo

A Crossair plane with 88 people aboard skidded off the runway at Sarajevo airport as it landed in a snowstorm on Sunday but no one was hurt.

The Avro-RJ85 was arriving from Zurich with 82 passengers and six crew when it slid off the runway at 1625 Central European Time.

A Crossair spokesman, Patrick Gendrain, said no one was injured and the passengers and crew were able to leave the aircraft.

He said the pilot had applied the brakes but the plane had not stopped. He added that it was not clear whether the plane had suffered a technical problem, and that a team of experts would arrive to inspect the aircraft on Monday.

The aircraft remained stuck in snow about 100 metres from the end of the runway and about 30 metres from the airport perimeter fence as snow continued to fall on Sunday night.

Airport officials said the airport would remain closed until the plane could be moved.

The incident is the latest in a string of mishaps at Crossair, which is next April to take over from the collapsed Swissair and Switzerland’s flag carrier.

A Crossair jet ploughed into woods on its approach to Zurich from Berlin on November 24, killing all but nine of the 33 aboard. Another Crossair plane narrowly avoided colliding with a Portuguese airliner at Zurich airport on December 2.

swissinfo with agencies