Emergency Landing Drama At LAX
Spark-Filled Touch-Down On Faulty Landing Gear For JetBlue Plane
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Play CBS Video Video JetBlue Emergency Landing CBS News RAW: A JetBlue airliner made a spark-filled emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport on nose gear that was turned sideways. The plane circled for hours to burn off fuel.
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The JetBlue Airbus 320 left a trail of smoke and flames as it made a suspenseful but successful emergency landing at Los Angeles Airport. (AP)
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The plane circled the Los Angeles area for three hours before trying to land despite its front wheels being stuck in a sideways position. (AP)
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The pilot landed by balancing on the back wheels, then eased onto the front tires, which shot flames along the runway before tearing off. The metal landing gear scraped for the final yards.
Within minutes of landing, the plane's door was opened and passengers walked down a stairway with their luggage and onto the tarmac, where buses waited.
No injuries were immediately reported among the 140 passengers and six crew members, fire officials said.
The plane landed at an auxiliary runway set apart from the main terminals. Fire trucks and emergency crews had massed nearby to help.
"It was a very, very smooth landing. The pilot did an outstanding job," said fire Battalion Chief Lou Roupoli. "There was a big hallelujah and a lot of clapping on that aircraft."
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident, NTSB spokesman Paul Schlamm said.
JetBlue flight 292 left Bob Hope Airport in Burbank at 3:17 p.m. for New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, said JetBlue spokesman Bryan Baldwin.
The Airbus A320 first circled the Long Beach Airport, about 30 miles south of Burbank.
CBS News' Steve Futterman reports that the pilot circled in the air for three hours, burning off fuel, before being diverted to Los Angeles International Airport.
The plane landed at 6:19 p.m. Some passengers shook hands with emergency workers as they walked off the plane. Others talked on their cell phones and waved to cameras. One firefighter carrying a boy across the tarmac put his helmet on the child's head.
JetBlue, based in Forest Hills, N.Y., is a five-year-old low-fare airline with 286 flights a day and destinations in 13 states and the Caribbean. It operates a fleet of 81 A320s.
©MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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