Spotlight: Plane skids off runway as winter storm grips U.S.

　　NEW YORK, March 5 (Xinhua) -- An airliner from Atlanta skidded off a runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport Thursday and crashed through a fence before coming to rest at the edge of frigid waters, as a treacherous snow storm reaching from Texas to New England affected 94 million people.

　　A total of 24 people suffered minor injuries in the accident and three of them were transported to nearby hospitals, New York's fire department tweeted. The airport reopened several hours after the incident, said the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in a statement.

　　The incident occurred at about 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) as Delta flight 1086 was landing at LaGuardia after a morning flight from Atlanta. All 127 passengers and five crew members were safely taken off plane. Runways at LaGuardia were closed soon after the incident, a routine procedure when such incidents occur.

　　The mishap occurred at a time when a powerful winter storm was unleashing heavy snow from parts of the Ohio Valley to the Northeast Thursday and putting 94 million people under Winter Storm Warning or Winter Weather Advisory.

　　In the New York City area, the other two airports in area -- the Kennedy Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, in northern New Jersey, also saw midday delays of more than three hours because of snow and ice, the Federal Aviation Administration reported. Nearly a thousand flights have been canceled in New York Tri-State area due to the winter storm.

　　The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a winter storm warning for New York City, Long Island and areas of New Jersey until 7 p.m. Thursday, predicting snow accumulations of between 4 and 7 inches.

　　The New York City Office of Emergency Management has issued a hazardous travel advisory for the morning rush, warning of dangers on the roads caused by reduced visibility, icy roads and snow accumulations.

　　Governor of Alabama, West Virginia, Mississippi and New Jersey had declared states of emergency.

　　Perilously road conditions due to icy weather were also reported in the Mid-Atlantic region, including the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area where the federal government announced that its offices would be closed due to an expected heavy snowfall. The House of Representatives and the Senate also canceled their sessions due to the adverse weather condition.

　　Meanwhile, thousands of students in central and north areas in the U.S. state of Texas got a day off Thursday after an overnight storm brought about freezing rain, sleet and several inches of snow, causing cancellation of hundreds of flights and disruptions of traffic.

　　Schools throughout central Texas either delayed the start of classes or closed altogether because of the wintry weather. In northern Texas, the hardest hit area, where some places saw as much as seven inches (17.8 cm) of snow, schools also canceled classes for the whole day.

　　Flight tracking website Flightaware.com reported nearly 800 flights canceled Thursday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which had the highest snowfall since 1947.

　　In Kentucky, heavy snow brought by a winter storm has stranded hundreds of vehicles on interstate highways in Kentucky for hours.

　　Being unable to tell the road from the shoulders, many cars just have to stop as heavy snow piled up around cars, trapping drivers inside. Local media reported that some drivers have been stranded for as long as 12 hours on Interstate 65.

　　Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear on Thursday morning declared a state of emergency, the second time in less than a month, which allows local officials immediate access to state resources to assist stranded travelers.

　　"Two significant winter storms nearly bank-to-back are rare in Kentucky. Rain and sleet preceded the snow, making pre-treating roads impossible. Road crews working to clear highways and interstates were hampered by the fast-falling snow, which re- covered roads almost as quickly as they were plowed," said a statement on the Kentucky government website.

　　The winter storm has swept through the U.S. Midwest, South and East starting from late Wednesday.