An All Nippon Airways plane skidded off a runway after landing at Shin-Chitose Airport in Hokkaido around noon Thursday but no one was injured, the transport ministry said.

The Bombardier DHC8-Q400 carrying 21 passengers and four crew members from Akita came to a stop after slamming into a pile of snow, spurring the closure of one of the airport's two runways.

The plane, which took off from Akita at 10:30 a.m., skidded as it tried to enter a taxiway from the runway and ended up slipping into the overrun area, according to All Nippon Airways Co.

The passengers were allowed to get off the aircraft about an hour after the incident.

"When the airplane was slowing after touching down, it felt as if it was a car skidding on a snowy road. I felt it plowing into snow eventually but I was not greatly worried," said Masaki Ota, a 54-year-old employee at pro basketball team Levanga Hokkaido.

It was snowing at the time and 32 cm had accumulated near the runways.

The temperature was minus 2.5 degrees with winds of about 24 kph around noon, according to the Meteorological Agency.