Plane Goes Off Runway in Rome, Three Injured

A plane went off the runway in Rome, injuring three people.

According to AFP, a Carpatair ATR 72 plane from Pisa veered off the runway while landing at Rome's Fiumicino airport. The plane ended up in the grass and its landing gear was damaged.

The Romanian plane was carrying 50 passengers when the incident occurred. Three people on board were taken to the hospital. A Romanian flight crew member had spinal injuries but there were not life-threatening. Another person had an injured pelvis.

It is not clear what caused the incident but it is being investigated. Officials believe high winds and rain may have played a part but it also could have been due to pilot error.

According to AFP, a passenger claimed the plane touched down twice.
"The second time the landing gear was bent out of shape and we ended up off the runway," the passenger said. He recalled several passengers screaming.

Fiumicino Airport remained open but one of the runways was closed.
Carpatair is partnered with Alitalia and they were running an Alitalia flight at the time. Alitalia said strong winds caused the plane to veer off the runway.

They have now suspended all of their flights through Carpitair from Pisa and Bologna.

This isn't the only issue Capatair had in recent months. A flight from Ancona to Rome had to had an emergency landing right after take-off. In January, one of the planes had cabin pressure problems, forcing passengers to use oxygen masks. The plane made a U-Turn back to the airport.