Sandra Bullock turned into "Near-Miss" Congeniality Wednesday, when a plane she was riding in skidded off an airport runway in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, while landing amid icy conditions, her publicist said.
The bubbly Miss Congeniality star was not injured, nor were her fellow passengers--boyfriend Bob Schneider and two crew members. Publicist Pat Kingsley said the small, private plane slid off the tarmac and into the snow after touching down in the resort village.
The twin-engine Hawker corporate jet, owned by RR Investments of Texas, was heavily damaged, Jackson Hole Airport Manager George Larson told the Associated Press. He said the main nose landing gear was sheared off and both wings were damaged.
"I really don't know what could have caused it," Larson said.
Still, the incident apparently didn't hamper their vacation plans. Kingsley said Bullock and her boyfriend were currently still in Jackson Hole, no doubt planning to hit the powder for some holiday skiing. The world-renowned resort is located in northwestern Wyoming, near Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
The 36-year-old actress does, however, have experience with runway mishaps. In 1999, she starred alongside Ben Affleck in Forces of Nature, the tale of two strangers who fall in love after their plane skids off a runway.
Bullock, whose film credits also include the 1994 blockbuster Speed and 1998's Hope Floats, stars as an FBI agent who goes undercover in a beauty pageant for Miss Congeniality. The film, costarring Candice Bergen, Michael Caine and Benjamin Bratt, hits theaters Friday.
(UPDATED at 6:00 p.m. PT on 12/20/00)