747 Aborts Flight Due to Warning Indicator
05.17.2006, 10:05 PM
A United Airlines jetliner made an emergency landing Wednesday when an indicator light showed an inflatable emergency slide had deployed.
United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said she did not know whether the slide deployed in the air or after the emergency landing. An investigation was under way.
A passenger told KGW-TV in Portland that the inflatable slide rolled out while the jet was in the air.
The Denver-bound 747 returned to Portland after about 30 minutes into the flight.
There are eight slides on the plane, McCarthy said. The one that deployed was located over one of the jet's wings at an emergency exit, McCarthy said. The exit door did not open.
"Oh my gosh, it was frightening," said passenger Bert Bernie. "I'm grateful something worse did not happen."
Bernie who couldn't see anything from his seat, said the jet then slowed and began to vibrate noticeably during the descent.
The flight was carrying 189 people, including 182 passengers, airport spokesman Steve Johnson said.
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Plane makes forced landing at PDX
12:11 PM PDT on Wednesday, May 17, 2006
By TERESA BELL, kgw.com Staff
A United Airlines flight was forced to return to Portland International Airport shortly after takeoff after an evacuation slide deployed in flight, according to passengers.
KGW Photo
The white slide, still attached to the left wing, could be seen from KGW's tower-cam at PDX.
The pilot called the airport tower reporting mechanical problems just before 8:30 a.m.
Passengers told KGW an emergency slide, designed for evacuation procedures, deployed while the plane was still in the air and they could hear it flapping in the wind as the pilot slowly tried to steer the plane back to the airport.
As we were coming down, there was all this banging and it was really kind of nerve-racking,” said passenger Bert Berney.
The pilot managed to safely land the plane and there were no injures, according to airport officials. Passengers applauded after the plane came to a stop on the runway.
Flight 364 was scheduled to fly from Portland to Denver and then on to Baltimore. The Boeing
757 aircraft took off at 8:14 a.m. and 189 were on board, airport officials said.
Some of the passengers told KGW they decided to cancel their trip after the in-flight scare. Others were transfered to another plane.
The malfunction would have been extremely serious if the slide had become entrapped in the wing's flaps, but thankfully, this did not happen. Inspectors are carefully analyzing the system to figure out exactly what happened.
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Jetliner aborts flight after warning light indicates emergency slide deployed
PORTLAND, Ore. A United Airlines jetliner made an emergency landing when an indicator light showed one of the plane's inflatable emergency slides had deployed.
A United spokeswoman says she doesn't know whether the slide deployed in the air or after the emergency landing. An investigation is under way.
A passenger told K-G-W T-V in Portland, Oregon, that the inflatable slide rolled out while the jet was in the air.
The Denver-bound 757 returned to Portland after about 30 minutes into the flight.
The slide that deployed was located over one of the jet's wings at an emergency exit. The exit door did not open.
The flight was carrying 189 people, including 182 passengers.