Justice Ginsburg slides to safety off airplane

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A 78-year-old justice on the top U.S. court was forced to slide down an emergency chute to evacuate a flight at an airport near Washington. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was on her way to San Francisco and was not injured, said Supreme Court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe Estrada. A pilot noticed a problem with the engine on the United Airlines Flight 586 and ordered 179 passengers and six crew members to exit, said airport spokeswoman Kimberly Gibbs on Wednesday. Ginsburg was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2009. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy for the cancer and was hospitalized on two other occasions last year but is maintaining an active travel schedule that is taking her across the country at least twice this summer. Published: Fri, Sep 16, 2011