SkyW120
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2003
- Posts
- 73
too bad Chuck Norris wasn't riding in the back...glad everyone was okay.
http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/36220324.html
A Middlebury woman whose United Airlines flight headed for South Bend landed without gear in Chicago was safe at home early Tuesday, but told SBT24/7 News the experience shook her up a bit.
Becky Bontreger and her husband, Kent, were returning from a weekend with friends in New Orleans when their connecting flight home to South Bend Regional Airport was sent back to Chicago's O'Hare Airport.
"We were getting ready to land in South Bend and the pilot said we'd be landing in ten minutes," Bontreger said by telephone. "Then, we circled South Bend three times and started back to Chicago."
United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said United Express flight 7164, operated by Mesa Airlines, landed safely but "it did not come to rest on all of its wheels."
Dave Lachniet with South Bend Regional Airport confirmed early Tuesday that the plane was sent back because of a landing gear problem. McCarthy said the landing gear indicator light alerted pilots shortly after takeoff.
And while Bontreger and the other 27 passengers were not injured, she said she was seated in the front of the plane and knew something was wrong.
"There was another pilot in the row in front of us and they came and got him," she said. Shortly thereafter, the passengers were told the landing gear on the left side did not come down.
The aircraft's fuel was jettisoned over Lake Michigan and flight attendants — who Bontreger described as amazingly calm — prepared the passengers for an emergency landing.
"Everyone on the plane stayed very calm, there was never any outburst," she said. "People were praying."
Twenty to 30 fire engines and ambulances awaited them when they landed at O'Hare, with the plane tilting to the left and the wing scraping sparks down the tarmac.
"It was scary," Bontreger said, adding that she cried all the way home.
But she and her husband opted to board another plane for South Bend. She said some passengers weren't ready for that, so rental cars and other transportation were arranged by United.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/36220324.html
A Middlebury woman whose United Airlines flight headed for South Bend landed without gear in Chicago was safe at home early Tuesday, but told SBT24/7 News the experience shook her up a bit.
Becky Bontreger and her husband, Kent, were returning from a weekend with friends in New Orleans when their connecting flight home to South Bend Regional Airport was sent back to Chicago's O'Hare Airport.
"We were getting ready to land in South Bend and the pilot said we'd be landing in ten minutes," Bontreger said by telephone. "Then, we circled South Bend three times and started back to Chicago."
United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said United Express flight 7164, operated by Mesa Airlines, landed safely but "it did not come to rest on all of its wheels."
Dave Lachniet with South Bend Regional Airport confirmed early Tuesday that the plane was sent back because of a landing gear problem. McCarthy said the landing gear indicator light alerted pilots shortly after takeoff.
And while Bontreger and the other 27 passengers were not injured, she said she was seated in the front of the plane and knew something was wrong.
"There was another pilot in the row in front of us and they came and got him," she said. Shortly thereafter, the passengers were told the landing gear on the left side did not come down.
The aircraft's fuel was jettisoned over Lake Michigan and flight attendants — who Bontreger described as amazingly calm — prepared the passengers for an emergency landing.
"Everyone on the plane stayed very calm, there was never any outburst," she said. "People were praying."
Twenty to 30 fire engines and ambulances awaited them when they landed at O'Hare, with the plane tilting to the left and the wing scraping sparks down the tarmac.
"It was scary," Bontreger said, adding that she cried all the way home.
But she and her husband opted to board another plane for South Bend. She said some passengers weren't ready for that, so rental cars and other transportation were arranged by United.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
