Jet slides off O'Hare runway, as snow sweeps across Midwest towards Northeast

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By Phil Helsel

A passenger jet slid off a runway at Chicago’s O’Hare airport on Saturday as that city and a swath of the Midwest was being battered by heavy snow, officials said.

There were no injuries after the American Airlines jet, which had a reported 129 people on board coming from Phoenix, exited the runway Saturday morning, according to authorities and NBC Chicago, which cited the city’s fire department.

American Airlines said Flight 656 rolled off the concrete surface “due to the weather conditions.” The passengers deplaned safely and crews were working to recover the aircraft, the Chicago Department of Aviation said.

More than 650 flights have been canceled at the Chicago airport due to overnight snow and winds, the airport said on Twitter. The National Weather Service said that 5 inches of snow had fallen in Chicago as of 9:12 a.m. ET, and 11 inches was reported in the Kenosha, Wisconsin, area.

A swath of the United States from Illinois to Maine was under a winter storm warning, according to the National Weather Service. The weather service says that there is a 70 percent probability of a foot of snow in parts of northern Pennsylvania and central New York.

source: nbcnews.com