Flight From Philadelphia Makes Emergency Landing In Houston
By Tim Jimenez and Jan Carabeo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A flight from Philadelphia to Houston had to make an emergency landing when its landing gear didn't deploy.
The fight left Philadelphia International Airport a little after 6 p.m. Monday. It arrived at Houston's George Bush International Houston at about 10 p.m.
American Airlines says the flight, operated by US Airways, landed safely, but without its nose landing gear.
The plane's pilot said, "We have not had success. We do believe our nose landing gear is still retracted. Our two main landing gears appear to be down, and the nose wheel appears to be up."
All 52 passengers and four crew members got off American Airlines Flight 1825 on the tarmac via aircraft slides.
Communications Director at Houston Airport, David Herbert says, "The airline talked to the pilots and they made the determination to go ahead and do the landing without the benefit of the nose gear. That occurred around 9:30 or 9:40 p.m. Fortunately, there were no injuries, though the plane did have an unusual landing, a rough landing."
American Airlines says the primary concern at this time is for the passengers and crew. The airline says it is in contact with authorities and cooperating with response efforts.
A spokesperson says the airline is now working with the NTSB to figure out what went wrong.