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Passengers traveling from Rochester to Charlotte with American Airlines yesterday were subjected to a heavy delay after their aircraft suffered a partial taxiway excursion in wintry conditions. The Boeing 737 operating the flight is said to have taken a turn too wide, resulting in its nose wheel hitting the grass.
With the jet stuck in the snow for several hours last night before it could be towed back to the gate, 
American Airlines, which arranged buses back to the terminal rather than keeping the passengers on board, was forced to postpone the service overnight until this afternoon. The incident bears curious parallels to a similar occurrence that befell an American Eagle regional jet in Rochester, almost two years ago to the day.
An Eventful Evening
American flight AA3057 is a regularly scheduled commercial domestic passenger flight that originates at Greater Rochester International Airport (CLT) in New York State. Its destination is Charlotte (CLT), a key North Carolina hub for the oneworld founding member, and Flightradar24 shows that the service is operated daily by 
Boeing 737-800 aircraft. After arriving punctually in Rochester, yesterday’s iteration was set to leave at 6:41 pm.
With a block time of two hours and 14 minutes penciled in, the 90 passengers on AA3057 were expecting to reach Charlotte at 8:55 pm. However, as the Democrat & Chronicle reports, their flight was delayed overnight after, as the Rochester NY Airport Firefighters Association put it, the jet “took a turn too wide and left the pavement.” This caused the plane to slide into the adjacent grass, with its nose wheel getting stuck. American Airlines said:
“After completing deicing due to the snow and freezing temperatures, American Airlines flight 3057 partially left the paved surface of the taxiway at Rochester. Customers safely returned to the terminal via buses.”
Delayed Overnight
According to the Democrat & Chronicle, the incident involving American flight 3057 yesterday evening occurred at around 7:00 pm. However, the recovery of the aircraft couldn’t take place immediately due to the challenging conditions, with 13 WHAM reporting that it wasn’t until around 9:30 pm that the jet was able to be towed away from the taxiway. By this point, as noted above, the passengers had already been taken away by bus.
Given the late hour at which the incident occurred, American Airlines ultimately had to delay the flight overnight until early this afternoon. Data made available by Flightradar24 now shows that the service is expected to depart at 1:00 pm local time, representing a delay of more than 18 hours. According to WHEC 10, American Airlines arranged hotel accommodation for impacted passengers and also rebooked those with connections.
The aircraft involved in yesterday’s incident was a 9.5-year-old example of the Boeing 737-800 that bears the registration N996NN. According to present fleet data made available by ch-aviation, this US-built narrowbody twinjet has served American Airlines for its entire career since its delivery to the legacy carrier and oneworld founding member in August of 2016, having first flown a month beforehand. It can accommodate 172 passengers.
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No injuries were reported.
A Similar Incident Befell An American Eagle Jet In Rochester Two Years Ago
As it happens, this isn’t the first time that an American Airlines flight has left its planned surface at Greater Rochester International Airport in wintry conditions. Indeed, as reported by CBS News at the time, almost two years ago to the day, on January 18, 2024, a Piedmont Airlines Embraer ERJ145 operating under the American Eagle brand slid off one of the airport’s taxiways. The aircraft had just arrived from Philadelphia Airport (PHL).
Unlike the half-full Boeing 737-800 that experienced an eventful evening in Rochester last night, this particular aircraft was fully-loaded at the time of its unplanned excursion, with all 50 of its passenger seats occupied. There were also three members of crew on board the Brazilian-built regional jet. Passengers subsequently disembarked via stairs and were transported to the airport’s terminal by buses, with no injuries reported at the time.
