The investigation remains ongoing after a Southwest commercial airliner ended up in a ditch after landing at Nashville International Airport.
Flight 31 from Houston was taxiing on runway T4 Tuesday evening when it somehow went off the taxiway and ended up in a ditch. The cause of the incident remains unknown.
Of the 133 passengers and five crew members, eight people were taken to TriStar Summit Medical Center with minor injuries. Three of those have been treated and released.
Southwest flight 31 arrived in Nashville from Houston Hobby Airport just before 5:30 p.m.
The FAA said after landing, the plane veered off the taxiway and got stuck before reaching the gate. An inflatable evacuation slide was deployed to help passengers exit from the aircraft. From there, they were bused to the gate.
The Metro Nashville Airport Authority, Metro Fire and EMS officials all responded to the scene.
Passengers said the situation caught them off guard. Witnesses reported feeling a bump and some even heard a loud pop.
"You realized you were on the runway; so you weren't going to die," said passenger, Sam Flener. "There was no smoke, but you are wondering what happened. Did we hit somebody? Did we hit a plane? A truck? What did we do? Then you get out and realize you are in a ditch."
VIDEO: Eight people were hurt but will be ok. We still don't know how the plane veered off the runway. @NC5 pic.twitter.com/fh5U1cke2H
— Matthew Torres (@NC5_MTorres) December 16, 2015
Officials said a special team will have to tow the plane from the taxiway in order to minimize damage to the aircraft. It was moved from the taxiway early Wednesday morning to one of the Southwest terminals.
The investigation has been placed into the hands of the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation and Safety Board.
They will be looking at every inch of the plane and reviewing this grainy surveillance video from the airport.
The video shows the plane make what appears to be a sharp veer to the right then teeter side to side after hitting the ditch.
NewsChannel 5 asked Dale Kimborough from Nashville Flight Training to watch the 20 second clip. He believed something went wrong with the front landing gearing; possibly a tire failure.
"It looks like they were turning into the ramp and could've put more stress on the tire that was already going flat or low and cause it to lose directional control off the side of the taxiway," said Kimbrough.
BNA officials said the airport will operate normally Wednesday and all runways would be open.
Read Southwest Airlines' full statement here.
