Passenger plane skids off runway in Quito, Ecuador

Mon Sep 22, 2008 7:00pm BST

(Recasts with TV images, adds quote, details)

By Enrique Andres Pretel

QUITO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - A plane carrying more than 60 people skidded off a runway and crashed through a brick perimeter wall before stopping near a busy road in Ecuador's capital on Monday, but no one was seriously hurt.

The accident occurred as the plane was trying to take off at the Quito airport, but there were no serious injuries among those aboard, officials said.

"There were no consequences, just a few people with knocks, nothing else," said Quito airport chief Mario Guevara.

The plane was a Fokker F28 jet airliner operated by domestic carrier Icaro, an Ecuadorean airline association spokeswoman, Gabriela Sommerfeld, said.

The mustard-colored jet's nose smashed through a wall, and the plane stopped on a grassy slope a few yards (metres) away from cars bustling through a built-up part of the Andean city.

For years, authorities have planned to move the Quito airport away from the crowded urban sprawl.

Quito airport remained closed after Monday's accident.

(Additional reporting by Alonso Soto and Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Saul Hudson and Cynthia Osterman)




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