Ida Astute/ABC(NEW YORK) — Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said he is “really grateful” for quick action that kept all passengers and crew safe when his campaign plane skidded off the runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Thursday night.
“Thank God everybody was fine,” Pence, Donald Trump’s running mate on the Republican presidential ticket, said Friday on ABC’s Good Morning America.
“I’m just really grateful, really grateful for some quick action,” he said. “Not only by the pilots but also by first responders who were literally, it seemed like they were on the scene at LaGuardia before the plane even came to a halt.”
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there were no injuries among the 37 people on board the Boeing 737, which was arriving from Fort Dodge, Iowa. The charter aircraft’s slide off the runway at around 7:40 p.m. prompted a temporary closure of the entire airport.
“We just immediately felt heavy braking on the runway and the plane fishtailed a little bit,” Pence said of the accident. “Just for a few seconds you could feel us bouncing off and with mud splattered up on the windows we figured we were off the runway.”
According to an ABC News reporter on the aircraft, the GOP vice-presidential candidate came back to check on everyone on the plane. Pence, a father of two, said the accident reminded him of advice from his son, Michael.
“My son is a Marine Corps aviator and Michael always tells us, ‘Every landing you walk away from is a good one,'” Pence said.
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