Pence plane slides off runway at NYC’s LaGuardia Airport

NEW YORK (AP) — Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence’s campaign plane slid off a runway during a rainstorm at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Thursday, tearing up two tracks of concrete before coming to rest on a patch of grass.

Pence told reporters that no one had been injured.

“We can see mud on the front windows,” a calm Pence said in the press cabin about a minute after the plane came to rest. He said he felt fine.

Later, the Indiana governor tweeted: “So thankful everyone on our plane is safe. Grateful for our first responders & the concern & prayers of so many. Back on the trail tomorrow!”

So thankful everyone on our plane is safe. Grateful for our first responders & the concern & prayers of so many. Back on the trail tomorrow!

— Mike Pence (@mike_pence) October 28, 2016

In Geneva, Ohio, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump told his supporters that Pence had come “pretty close to grave, grave danger.” But, he added: “I just spoke to Mike Pence and he’s fine. Everybody’s fine.”

After a bumpy approach, the Boeing 737 Eastern Airlines charter landed roughly, making first contact with the runway concrete. The pilot slammed on the brakes and passengers could smell burning rubber.

The roughly 40 passengers and crew, including Pence, were evacuated through the back of the plane.

The Port Authority shut down the runway following the incident, but later reopened it. In a statement the agency confirmed that the plane had “overshot” the runway, there were no injuries and there was no fire.

Pence spokesman Marc Lotter said Pence spoke with Trump shortly after the landing. The vice presidential candidate also called into the $1 million fundraiser he had been expected to attend, Lotter said.

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Associated Press writers Laurie Kellman in Washington and Thomas McElroy in New York contributed to this report.