A JetBlue flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Newark Liberty International Airport on Wednesday (February 19) after experiencing engine problems and smoke in the cabin, leading to a temporary airport closure.
JetBlue Flight 543, an Airbus A320 bound for West Palm Beach, Florida, took off from Newark around 5:45 p.m. but returned to the airport just 17 minutes later. Passengers were evacuated onto the tarmac using emergency slides after the crew reported smoke in the cockpit.
“We got smoke in the back. We are going to have to be evacuating here in a second,” the pilot told air traffic controllers, according to LiveATC.net.
Passenger Alexandra Svokos described the chaotic scene to WABC: “There’s fire trucks and emergency crews all around the plane and eventually somebody came on the announcement system and said something to the effect of seatbelts off get off the plane, at which point everybody stampeded towards the exit.”
Some passengers reported hearing a loud bang and seeing a flash near the wing during the flight, initially thinking the aircraft might have been struck by lightning.
Following protocol for emergency landings, Newark Airport temporarily suspended all flight operations. “Attention all aircraft, Newark Airport is closed,” an air traffic controller announced after the incident.
The airport reopened and resumed normal operations around 7:00 p.m., approximately one hour after the emergency landing. No injuries were reported among passengers or crew members.
In a statement, JetBlue said, “Safety is JetBlue’s top priority. We are focused on supporting our customers and crewmembers and will work closely with the appropriate federal authorities to investigate what occurred.”
The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to investigate the incident to determine the exact cause of the engine failure and smoke in the cabin.
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