Passenger jet slides off runway as 1,800 flights cancelled amid heavy snow

Another 4,500 flights were delayed

A pilot and four passengers suffered minor injuries when the United Express flight veered off the runway (WABI)

Heavy snow has been blamed for causing a passenger jet to slide off a runway in northern Maine, injuring five people and forcing the airport to close.

A pilot and four passengers suffered minor injuries when the United Express flight, a 50-seater Embraer 145, veered off the runway at Presque Isle International Airport on landing, the airport said on Facebook.

All five were transported to a nearby hospital where they were treated and released, the airport said.

“At this time, the airport is closed and officials are currently in discussions with the National Transportation Safety Board to determine when the runway will be reopened,” the airport said.

Adverse weather led to more than 1,700 flights being on Monday and another 4,500 were delayed, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.com.

A band of winter weather stretching from Maryland to Maine dumped more than a foot of snow on parts of New England, National Weather Service meteorologist Marc Chenard reported.

New York City was spared the worst of the late-winter storm, although Mayor Bill de Blasio took the rare step of shutting schools across the city, while New Jersey Transit cancelled about a dozen trains on its sprawling commuter system.

The mayor defended the school closures on Twitter after snow totals in New York were less than expected and parents complained on social media that he had overreacted.

“We put safety first when we make a call on closing school. The overnight storm had more rain and less snow than forecasted. We know it’s tough for working parents – that’s why we made an early decision so New Yorkers could plan,” Mr de Blasio said in a tweet.

Government offices and libraries in Boston were also closed.

In New Jersey, where governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm, state workers had a two-hour delay.

Additional reporting by Reuters