Dec 7, 2000 - 07:45 AM

Continental Pilot Aborts Flight in Texas The Associated Press

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) - A Continental Airlines passenger jet made an emergency landing at Corpus Christi International Airport after reporting engine trouble. Houston-bound Flight 1888 with 60 passengers, including several city officials, encountered problems shortly after takeoff Wednesday when one of the plane's engines began making popping noises and the jet struggled to gain altitude.

"I was thinking, 'Please, dear God, don't let them take off,'" City Council member Rex Kinnison told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in Thursday's editions.

The pilot turned the plane back toward the airport. A stalled engine then forced the emergency landing, said Jim Nelson, chief of public safety at the airport. The MD-80 has two engines and can fly with just one.

"It was very obvious the plane was in extreme distress," said City Council member Mark Scott, who along with other municipal leaders was on his way to Boston for a National League of Cities conference.

"It seemed to us he was barely able to stop the landing. I was saying a prayer. I've sky dived, I've been mountain climbing... I've never been this frightened," Scott said.

Passengers were transferred to another plane.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA7F97GGGC.html

-- Carl Jenkins (somewherepress@aol.com), December 07, 2000