Horrified Air Travellers Watch Own Jet Crisis Live On TV
Los Angeles (United States):
An airliner crippled by faulty landing gear and carrying 140 passengers made an emergency landing at Los Angeles airport yesterday in a cloud of sparks and smoke.
No one was hurt in the incident, which was broadcast live on television and watched by those aboard the jet whose satellite monitors were tuned to coverage of the incident.
The JetBlue airliner makes an emergency landing amid flames The JetBlue aircraft, bound for New York, took off from Burbank on Wednesday but its front wheels failed to retract and remained locked at a 90-degree angle.
The fault threatened to cause the Airbus A320 wheels to break off on landing and pitch the aircraft's nose into the runway.Startled passengers said they first realised something was wrong when the animated map marking its progress showed that it had not left the Los Angeles area.
When the pilot briefed them about the problem and on-board televisions sets began showing live images of their plight, some began to cry.
Others frantically tried to contact relatives. One man recorded a message on his camera for his girlfriend "just in case".Zachary Mastoon, 27, a musician from Brooklyn, said it was "surreal" to watch his aircraft's fate on television. "I wanted to call my dad to tell him I'm alive so far," he said."We couldn't believe the irony, that we were watching our own demise on TV - it was all too post-post-modern," Alexandra Jacobs, a journalist at the New York Observer, told CNN.People in offices, restaurants and gyms around America gathered around television sets to watch. The live footage, and speculative commentary, was shut off just before the pilot brought JetBlue Flight 292 down - ear wheels first, before the nose gear was lowered gingerly to the ground.It erupted in smoke and flames but quickly burnt out as the aircraft skidded along the runway before coming to a halt.
Passengers cheered, applauded and hugged one another.''At the end it was the worst because you didn't know if it was going to work, if we would catch fire," said Diane Hamilton, 32, from New Jersey. "It was very scary. Grown men were crying. "Passengers were told to assume the ''brace'' position, putting their heads between their knees. "I thought this would be it," Ms Hamilton said."We all cheered, I was bawling, I cried so much," said Christine Lund, 25, travelling with her cat.
Antonio Villaraigosa, the mayor of Los Angeles, praised the pilot, Scott Burke, for his skill in performing a safe landing. "He joked that he was sorry he put the plane down six inches off the centre line," Mr Villaraigosa said. Ann Decrozals, a spokesman at the aircraft manufacturer's French headquarters, said the A320 was designed to be able to land with front wheel problems.JetBlue, a five-year-old, low-fare airline with 286 flights a day, said it was investigating the incident with the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board.
Sept 23, 2005
Catherine Elsworth, Telegraph
Los Angeles (United States):An airliner crippled by faulty landing gear and carrying 140 passengers made an emergency landing at Los Angeles airport yesterday in a cloud of sparks and smoke.
No one was hurt in the incident, which was broadcast live on television and watched by those aboard the jet whose satellite monitors were tuned to coverage of the incident.
The JetBlue airliner makes an emergency landing amid flames The JetBlue aircraft, bound for New York, took off from Burbank on Wednesday but its front wheels failed to retract and remained locked at a 90-degree angle.
The fault threatened to cause the Airbus A320 wheels to break off on landing and pitch the aircraft's nose into the runway.Startled passengers said they first realised something was wrong when the animated map marking its progress showed that it had not left the Los Angeles area.
When the pilot briefed them about the problem and on-board televisions sets began showing live images of their plight, some began to cry.
Others frantically tried to contact relatives. One man recorded a message on his camera for his girlfriend "just in case".Zachary Mastoon, 27, a musician from Brooklyn, said it was "surreal" to watch his aircraft's fate on television. "I wanted to call my dad to tell him I'm alive so far," he said."We couldn't believe the irony, that we were watching our own demise on TV - it was all too post-post-modern," Alexandra Jacobs, a journalist at the New York Observer, told CNN.People in offices, restaurants and gyms around America gathered around television sets to watch. The live footage, and speculative commentary, was shut off just before the pilot brought JetBlue Flight 292 down - ear wheels first, before the nose gear was lowered gingerly to the ground.It erupted in smoke and flames but quickly burnt out as the aircraft skidded along the runway before coming to a halt.
Passengers cheered, applauded and hugged one another.''At the end it was the worst because you didn't know if it was going to work, if we would catch fire," said Diane Hamilton, 32, from New Jersey. "It was very scary. Grown men were crying. "Passengers were told to assume the ''brace'' position, putting their heads between their knees. "I thought this would be it," Ms Hamilton said."We all cheered, I was bawling, I cried so much," said Christine Lund, 25, travelling with her cat.
Antonio Villaraigosa, the mayor of Los Angeles, praised the pilot, Scott Burke, for his skill in performing a safe landing. "He joked that he was sorry he put the plane down six inches off the centre line," Mr Villaraigosa said. Ann Decrozals, a spokesman at the aircraft manufacturer's French headquarters, said the A320 was designed to be able to land with front wheel problems.JetBlue, a five-year-old, low-fare airline with 286 flights a day, said it was investigating the incident with the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board.
Sept 23, 2005
Catherine Elsworth, Telegraph
