"Okay, Put Her 'N Reverse And Rock 'Er Out..."

In a scene that brought back awkward memories to this writer of getting his Geo Storm stuck windshield-deep in a snowbank on his way to high school 15 years ago, on Friday a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 became stuck in the snow on a taxiway at Chicago's Midway Airport (MDW).

WGN-9 reports Flight 688, a holiday reliever flight bound for Los Angeles International Airport, was taxiing out for departure just after 9:00 am Friday when the aircraft's right main gear bogey ran into a ridge of snow plowed against the side of the taxiway.

City Department of Aviation spokesman Gregg Cunningham said the stuck airliner briefly blocked access to Runway 13-Center, closing that runway for several hours. Due to delays and cancellations brought about by the snowy mix that's socked in Chicago for the past several days, Cunningham said the closure had minimal impact on what flights were still operating.

Passengers deplaned and were taken by bus back to the terminal, while the airline brought in another plane to fly the route. That flight took off just before noon.

The incident 737-700 was later towed back to the hangar for a check-out. Cunningham didn't know whether any damage had been done to the plane.

FMI: www.southwest.com, www.chicago-mdw.com/