x
Breaking News
More () »

XNA Runway Temporarily Closed After Emergency Landing

A Delta jet made an emergency landing at XNA Thursday morning.   No one was hurt, but the airport was shut down for about an hour.   Delta flight 5358...

A Delta jet made an emergency landing at XNA Thursday morning.

 

No one was hurt, but the airport was shut down for about an hour.

 

Delta flight 5358 took off from XNA at 9:20 Tuesday morning. While in flight, pilots noticed something was wrong with the plane.

 

"We noticed that we weren't really climbing," said Steve Graham, a passenger on the flight. “The captain came on the loud speaker and let us know that the landing gear had basically malfunctioned."

 

The jet was headed to Atlanta when airport officials say pilots decided the plane wasn’t safe enough to fly.

 

The pilots burned fuel in case of a crash on landing.

 

"They burned off about 3,000 pounds of fuel," said Kelly Johnson, XNA spokeswoman.

 

"We were circling Fayetteville for about an hour," Graham said.

 

When the plane finally touched down safely on the runway, "the landing gear held up, but then the steering collapsed,” Graham said. “And towards the runway, he had to veer hard left."

 

Officials closed the runway for nearly an hour, causing some delays in arrivals and departures, while emergency crews led passengers off the plane

 

"We had plenty of time to make sure we had all the right emergency crews in place.” Johnson said. “Our plans worked exactly how they were intended to work."

 

All 50 passengers, and three crew members, were safe.

 

Passengers say they were thankful for their safety.

 

"The crew did a great job."

 

While some passengers waited for a new plane to arrive, others decided to fly to other cities to make their connections in Atlanta.

Before You Leave, Check This Out