A landing gear malfunction forced the evacuation of passengers without injury Sunday from a United Airlines (UA) flight arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport in the U.S. state of New Jersey, officials said.
None of the 53 people on board was injured.
A spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, operator of the airport across New York Bay from New York City, confirmed UA Flight 634 had a landing gear problem and the plane made an emergency landing on a main North-South Runway, 4L about 9: 30 a.m. EST.
When the Airbus 319 came to a halt on the runway, emergency escape slides were deployed at exit doors and the passengers escaped, he said. They were taken by bus to the terminal. There was no fire. Temperatures were below freezing at the time.
The spokesman, Ron Marsico, referred further inquiries to a United Airlines spokeswoman in Chicago who would only confirm there was an
"incident" involving landing gear and refused to release further information.
A reporter for WCBS NewsRadio 880 at the airport said the front and right landing gear deployed properly but the left side gear did not and the pilot declared an emergency landing. There was no fire.
Marsico said the incident caused delays at the airport because the aircraft blocked the runway. It was to be towed off "in the next couple of hours."
It was only a week ago at Newark Liberty a security breach closed one of the terminals for hours and caused residual delays in air travel across the United States.
On Saturday, Jiang Haisong, 28, of Piscataway, New Jersey, a doctoral student at Rutgers University, was arrested but released shortly after midnight.
The Port Authority said Jiang, from China, was being charged with trespass.
It was reported he only wanted to have another embrace with his girlfriend who was departing Newark.