Approach Blamed for Jet’s Belly Skid

A Delta jetliner that skidded down the runway at New York’s La Guardia Airport flew in so low that its landing gear was sheared off by a concrete wall at the start of the runway after the plane clipped approach lights in Flushing Bay, federal investigators said. The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 was towed to a hangar and the airport reopened, a day after the belly landing that forced 63 people aboard to evacuate. Four people were slightly injured sliding down an emergency chute. Delta’s Flight 554 arrived from Atlanta in the midst of a violent storm Saturday that brought driving rain, fog and winds of up to 60 mph to the New York area. A National Transportation Safety Board investigator said he could not say for certain that bad weather caused the accident.