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For months, reporters traveling aboard Mike Pence’s campaign plane have joked about the hard, bone-shaking landings from small Iowa airports to major metropolitan hubs as the Republican vice presidential candidate has crisscrossed the country. The “Make America Great Again"-emblazoned 737 has been bumping its way across the swing states, prompting one reporter to joke morbidly a few weeks ago that a “Pence plane veers off the runway” story had been pre-written.

Over the course of a few seconds Thursday night, those jokes became a jarring reality as the Pence plane slid off a rain-slicked runway upon landing at LaGuardia airport, injecting near-disaster in the 2016 presidential campaign.

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Could be camera angle aligning with the extended flaps.

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“When we landed here we had a pretty hard landing and then we felt the back of the plane start to fishtail and you could just feel the plane moving in a way that was not straight on the runway like a normal landing would go,”

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So suppose you're in an overrun, after a landing with flaps 30. Why would you retract the flaps afterwards? And IF you decide to retract them, why not until they are completely up?

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Though no flight would legally operate unless within those specified limits, there are two aircraft types that serve LGA that are more strained by the runway length than others, and one may surprise you.

The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a powerful aircraft, and a workhorse for several airlines. Though reliable and safe, the low-bypass engines respond slower to input than other aircraft types with larger engines. This means that it takes longer for the aircraft to build speed when rolling down the runway, demanding a longer takeoff distance. This is exacerbated on hot summer days when the air is thinner, requiring more speed to develop lift over the wings.

Airlines that operate this type into LGA encounter a difficult time on those dog day afternoons, and they usually deal with it by removing passengers to bring the aircraft’s weight down. A passenger headache? Perhaps. A safety issue? No. It’s actually an example of safety measures working to keep you safe.

The other aircraft that sometimes needs special consideration at LGA is a more modern type; the Boeing 737-800/900. The reason goes back to the late 1960s when the first, much shorter, -100/200 versions were birthed. You’ll notice that the 737 is a “low rider,” with its fuselage very low to the ground. This is because many airports that the aircraft served at that time did not have jet-bridges, and needed to board passengers walking up to the aircraft. Like a few models back then (such as the Boeing 727, Douglas DC-9), the early 737s offered built-in stairs that appeared from underneath the forward door, making boarding and deplaning simple for any airport.

The problem came years later, as newer versions of the 737 offered a lengthened fuselage. With the main landing gear still residing in the same place, the tail of the aircraft came very low to the ground when raising the nose on landing, risking a tail strike.

This resulted in the aircraft needing to keep the nose lower than it might otherwise aerodynamically prefer while on approach. This smaller angle of attack creates a faster approach speed, which can sometimes be around 15 knots faster than most other jets. The affect on runway length comes into play because the higher speed means it needs more stopping distance. But again, the math is done in advance. If it can’t stop within 60% of the strip, it won’t be allowed to take off to begin with.

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Just an educated guess.

But no slides deployed so decided not to evacuate. Decision made to disembark via rear doors. So whilst there had been an "incident" the crew decided to action the appropriate after landing scan/procedure. Also this would allow any fire services better access to wheel/engine areas.

Hence flaps retracted and thus why flaps not in the 40 position.

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