Plane slides off runway in another O'Hare mishap

(CBS News) CHICAGO -- An American Eagle commuter plane slid off the runway at O'Hare International Airport Thursday morning, just a day after the very same plane made an emergency landing at the airport.

CBS station WBBM in Chicago reported the 28 passengers used emergency slides to evacuate the American Eagle Flight 4069. The Embraer ERJ-145 with 50 seats, had just taken off from O'Hare for Tulsa, Okla., at 8 a.m. when the pilot noticed a gear problem.

An indicator light was going off in the cockpit, according to American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller.

The pilot contracted air traffic control, declared an emergency and returned to O'Hare, landing on the runway at 8:38 a.m., Miller said. During the landing, the plane slid off the runway and veered on to a cargo taxiway and hit the grassy area along the runway, he said.

Twenty-eight passengers and three crewmembers were onboard. They used the emergency slide to evacuate on the runway, and returned to the terminal by bus.

The passengers were then taken to a different plane, which took off for Tulsa sometime around 10:30 a.m., Miller said. No one was injured or hospitalized, fire officials said.

Everyone involved said it all could have been much worse. Miller said the plane had been taken out of service for a similar mechanical issue on Wednesday, and was "thoroughly inspected by our maintenance team at ORD before being redeployed."

This was the second incident in as many days involving an American Eagle plane at O'Hare.

On Wednesday, a 747 cargo jet clipped the rudder of an American Eagle flight as it was taxiing to the gate.