U.S. Vice President-elect Mike Pence’s chartered Boeing 737-700 “floated” during the landing flare and touched down 3,000 ft beyond the threshold before overrunning a wet Runway 22 at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on the evening of Oct. 27, according to a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigative update released Tuesday. No one was injured in the runway excursion, which came during the closing weeks of the U.S. presidential campaign. The flight originated in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
According to NTSB, the airplane veered to the right during the overrun and partially transited the Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) before it came to a stop on the turf about 200 ft from the runway end. The 37 passengers and crew of 11 deplaned via the airstairs.
The flight crew reported a stable approach and said that they sighted the runway when the airplane was about 700 ft above the ground. They said the airplane floated during the landing flare and that the main gear touched down on the wet runway about 3,000 ft beyond the threshold. Speed brakes were engaged manually about four seconds after touchdown and thrust reversers were deployed about seven seconds after touchdown.
Investigators interviewed the flight crews of four airplanes that landed immediately prior to Pence’s aircraft and none reported any problems with braking on the wet runway, NTSB said.
