United plane slides off runway at O'Hare; winter storm snarls air travel

CHICAGO, IL -- A United plane slid off the runway at O'Hare International Airport upon landing. Some travelers were delayed when they missed connections but there are no injuries.

United Airlines says the Boeing 737 was carrying 179 passengers and six crew members from San Francisco to Chicago. Passengers said most of the window shades were down during landing and they didn't realize something was wrong until the pilot made an announcement.

"They didn't say anything before, it felt like a totally normal landing, and then after we landed they said, oh, we had some brake failure," said Kech Carera.

"I didn't know if it was the brakes or not, but it felt like - there were just a couple little bumps and that was it," said Todd White.

"It started out as a normal landing, plane touched down, he started to apply the brakes and it just started to skid out a little bit, and then we got to the end of the runway and he went to the side a little bit, you know, I think he did a good job," said Brian Clark.

A passenger on the flight 734, Don Dodge, shared photos of emergency vehicles by the plane.

"Everyone is fine and calm. I've flown 2 million miles and never seen this before," Dodge wrote.

Speaking with ABC7 Eyewitness News, Dodge said the landing was very smooth but upon touching down the plane simply did not slow. Instead it began sliding and continued off the runway.

Emergency crews brought stairs and the airport provided buses to bring passengers to the terminal.

For the Patel family, the young travelers found the entire ordeal to be quite an adventure.

"We were about to land at the airport and all of a sudden me and my dad hear a screeching that sound like the wheels were screeching underneath the seats," said Arjun Patel.

"Everyone is safe and sound and that's all that matters," said Bhumi Patel.