Bizarre String of Emergency Landings Continues

Since Thursday, in increasingly strange circumstances, no fewer than six commercial flights in the U.S. have made emergency landings due to mechanical failures.

It began last Thursday morning when a Long Beach Airport (LGB) to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)-bound JetBlue flight returned to LGB to make an emergency landing. Twilight star Jackson Rathbone, who was aboard the flight with his family, live-Tweeted the harrowing experience as smoke from a disabled engine filled the cabin. Rathbone described a real-life version of a Hollywood movie in which a flight attendant pried oxygen masks from the overhead consoles and led passengers in a chant of the pilot’s emergency instructions to “brace.”

On Saturday, a matter of hours after the troubled JetBlue flight, The Los Angeles Times reports that a Sacramento International Airport (SMF) to Bob Hope Airport (BUR)-bound Southwest Airlines flight was diverted for an emergency landing at LAX. After experiencing problems with the plane’s wing-flaps, which are used to supply more lift to the aircraft at slower speeds during runway approach, the flight was redirected to LAX which has longer runways than are available at BUR. The plane landed safely, but the Times reported that most passengers declined the airline’s offer to provide a continuing flight to BUR following the “rough” landing.

On Monday, CBS affiliate KTVT reported that two American Airlines flights were forced to return Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) after suffering mechanical failures mid-flight. The aircraft returned to DFW within five minutes of each other. Emergency crews on the ground had already been scrambled.

The first of the two flights, a DFW to Buenos Aires Airport (BIA)-bound flight, declared an emergency over Mexico and was alerted to indications of a pressurization problem onboard the aircraft. The second flight was headed for Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT) but returned to DFW due to undisclosed mechanical problems shortly after takeoff.

Later in the day, Miami television station Local 10 reported an American Airlines flight actually scheduled to land at DFW was forced to return to Miami International Airport after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit. The fight landed in MIA without incident.

Additionally, on Monday, NBC Dallas affiliate KXAS reported that an American Eagle flight also headed to DFW was forced to land in Wichita, Kansas (ICT) after the crew discovered a crack in the plane’s windshield. The flight operated by ExpressJet originated in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (FSD).

Dallas NBC News 5 is also investigating reports of a fifth emergency landing on Monday — an American Airlines flight landing with wing-flap issues at Logan International Airport (BOS) in Boston.

[Photo: iStock]