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The plane was well into its final descent toward Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday morning when it began a sudden and unmistakable climb.
There was “a little problem,” the pilot told the 48 passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 634. Only two of the three landing wheels had opened successfully, and after repeated attempts to fix the problem had failed, those aboard were instructed to prepare for a crash landing.
A passenger, Paul Lasiuk, 46, described himself as more shocked than scared.
“You have no choice,” he said. “You’re going to go through this.”
That Mr. Lasiuk and his fellow passengers were able to describe their emotions — as well as the fairly graceful landing with only two landing wheels in place — was testament to the abilities of the five-person crew, they said later.
No one was injured in the emergency landing of the plane, an Airbus A319, which left O’Hare International Airport in Chicago around 6 a.m. and landed just before 9:30 a.m., said a spokeswoman for United Airlines.
As the plane prepared to make its emergency landing, Newark Airport grew large in the cabin windows. The loudspeaker then blared: “Brace! Brace! Brace!”
With the passengers curled into defensive postures and electricity switched off, the plane touched the ground, passengers said. The plane hit gently, riding down the runway on the front wheel and the left rear wheel before tipping to the right, where the rear wheel had failed to deploy. Sparks flew as the metal underbelly of the engine ground against the tarmac, but the plane continued to slide straight.
Jubin Nakhai, 34, said he was still holding his ankles, head between his knees in the brace position passengers had been instructed to assume, when someone told him the plane had stopped moving, adding, “You’re safe.”
The emergency landing briefly shut down the airport, but after about 20 minutes, two of the three runways were back in operation, said a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The Airbus remained on the third runway into the afternoon as investigators examined why its landing gear had failed, said the spokesman. The closing of the runway delayed some flights by about an hour.
The emergency landing returned focus to the Newark airport, one of the nation’s busiest, exactly a week after a man skipped past security, causing a six-hour shutdown of a major terminal on one of the biggest travel days of the year. An intensive manhunt following the security breach led to the arrest on Friday of Haisong Jiang, a 28-year-old Rutgers University graduate student, who apparently crossed into the secured area to kiss his girlfriend goodbye.
On Sunday, the scene was mostly celebratory aboard the United flight when it finally came to rest, passengers said. The cabin, which was less than half full, erupted with tears, applause and spirited proclamations that the landing had been even smoother than usual. The pilot thanked everybody for staying calm and helping one another.
“Anytime you’re up in the air and you realize you have a problem, you wonder if you’re going to make it,” said one of the passengers, John Wiman, 51, of Chicago. Outside, where emergency vehicles were already waiting, the smell of smoke hung in the clear, cold morning. The passengers and the crew slid out of the plane on inflatable emergency exit chutes and were taken by bus to an airline lounge in the main terminal, where they recounted the story to investigators and waited for their luggage.
When everyone left about two hours later, the passengers were full of praise for the crew, speaking with amazement at how well everything had worked out.
“I’ve had a lot of worse landings at Newark before,” said Mr. Lasiuk, who lives in Chicago and was traveling on business. “It was unbelievably smooth.”
Jim Falk, 40, who lives in New Jersey, swore that he would buy a bottle of Champagne for the pilot, whose name was not immediately released.
“The pilot did a beautiful job,” Mr. Falk said. “He didn’t put it in the water like the other pilot did, but he should be commended.”
Moritz Loew, 39, who also lives in New Jersey, was jubilant as he left the airport shortly after noon.
“What’s a great landing?” he asked, laughing as he set himself up for his own punch line. “One that you walk away from.”
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These people are very lucky.
