Sunday, February 27, 2000

Story last updated at 12:50 a.m. on Sunday, February 27, 2000

Boeing 737 makes emergency landing at JIA

From Times-Union Staff

A US Airways Metro Jet safely made an emergency landing yesterday at Jacksonville International Airport.

A light in the cockpit of US Airways Metro Jet flight 2704 indicated at 1:37 p.m. that the plane was experiencing hydraulic failure, said Jeff Price, a spokesman for the Jacksonville Port Authority.

The flight originated in Tampa and was headed to Baltimore with 118 passengers. US Airways was rerouting those passengers on other flights.

Hydraulic failure can affect a plane's ability to steer or use its landing gear, Price said.

The pilots used manual override to put down the landing gear and landed safely at JIA at about 2 p.m. But the plane, a Boeing 737, had lost steering and had to be towed to the gate, Price said.

http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/022700/met_emerlanding.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), February 27, 2000

Answers

Thanks, Carl, for the update. This plane had SERIOUS problems. If they could not steer the plane upon arriving at JIA, that meant they probably had lost all of the hydraulic fluid. IMHO, those people were damn lucky.

Saw some of the passengers on the late news last night. They were very shaken. Some said they cried, and others said they prayed. Now I understand why.

-- Lurkess (Lurkess@Lurking.XNet), February 27, 2000.

This is the SAME story that was on THE OTHERS on NBC last night - fiction immitating life! Hydraulic problem and couldn't turn the plane in the air or ground.

-- Sheri (wncy2k@nccn.net), February 27, 2000.

Partial hydraulic failure, maybe. That's quite bad enough.

A total failure was what happened at Sioux city; all three independant hydraulic systems were drstroyed by an exploding engine. That anyone at all survived was thanks to superb piloting and a large measure of luck (which sadly ran out about fifty feet above the runway. Having seen the resulting crash-landing on TV, I wonder that anyone survived).

-- Nigel (nra@maxwell.ph.kcl.ac.uk), February 29, 2000.