Free Republic

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The pilot who successfully landed an airliner with a broken landing gear at Los Angeles International Airport in September was presented one of North Carolina's highest honors Wednesday by Gov. Mike Easley. Scott Burke, 46, brought the JetBlue airliner down amid a shower of sparks in an emergency landing broadcast live on national television. No one was hurt. Burke, who has lived in Raleigh for about 15 years, received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. "Captain Burke exhibited true courage and skill under tremendous pressure," Easley said. "The 140 passengers on Flight 292 survived because...

For years, airlines controlled what passengers saw on their cabin screens, editing out scenes of graphic violence or sex, and banning movies altogether if they showed airline crashes. But now, with three U.S. airlines offering live television feeds and on-board Internet access expected to be available within a year, passengers can see anything they want -- even news coverage of an event in which they might be taking part. After the drama aboard JetBlue Flight 292 unfolded live on television Wednesday, executives of Denver-based Frontier Airlines, which like JetBlue shows DirectTV on its flights, began to rethink their policy of...

The problems with JetBlue Flight 292 marked at least the seventh time that the front landing gear of an Airbus jet has locked at a 90-degree angle, forcing pilots to land commercial airliners under emergency conditions, according to federal records. No one has been injured in the incidents, which span about a decade. There are more than 2,500 planes from the Airbus 320 family, which includes the Airbus 318, 319 and 321 models, in operation worldwide. Aviation safety officials Thursday said the planes have a good safety record. In the most recent case, JetBlue's flight from Burbank to New York's...

On almost any New York-bound plane out of the Los Angeles area, chances are a celebrity will be on board. ADVERTISEMENT click here The ill-fated JetBlue Flight 292 was no exception. Hustle & Flow stars Taryn Manning and DJ Qualls were among the 145 passengers and crew on the plane en route from Burbank's Bob Hope Airport to New York's JFK Wednesday that was forced to make an emergency landing due to defective landing gear. "Yesterday was a life changing day," Manning said in a statement released by her publicist Thursday. "The pilot is a true hero. I'm thankful to...

A Jet Blue airliner landed safely at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Thursday after its pilot reported a problem with the wing flaps as the plane prepared to descend, an airline spokeswoman said. No injuries were reported. The emergency landing ..

WASHINGTON -- There have been at least seven cases in which the front wheels on Airbus A320s became stuck in a sideways position, forcing pilots to make emergency landings. No one was hurt in any of the landings, the latest of which occurred Wednesday night in front of a national television audience when a JetBlue plane touched down in Los Angeles amid smoke and sparks as the front tires disintegrated. The incidents, unnerving to be sure, are nonetheless considered anomalies and have not prompted federal authorities to take action beyond ordering airlines to follow Airbus instructions for replacing rubber seals...

Concerning the Jetblue emergency landing yesterday, a question came to me. They flew around LA for three hours using up fuel because they couldn't dump the fuel. Nothing else was wrong with the plane, so why didn't they fly to NY (their destination) and land there? What does it matter where the landing took place? At least everybody would have been where they were going,and the fuel wouldn't have been wasted. Am I nuts here?

...The landing gear had not retracted, the pilot said. ... The back of each seat on a JetBlue plane is equipped with a small television set. As passengers watched, live, in-flight broadcasts of MSNBC and Fox News began to show their airplane. Ash glanced at the television of the passenger next to him: "At first I just thought, 'Of course, Fox News,' " he said, discounting the story as sensationalized. "But then it was on MSNBC." ... But his humor faded as he listened to television commentators talking about the flight. "One guy was saying, 'You know, I'm just speculating,...

After looking carfully at the replays of the JetBlue landing tonight, I noticed during landing that the nosegear flames and fires were pulsing on and off during the landing. The flames became quite fierce during the "roll"out of the aircraft, but would diminish and suddenly flame-on strongly again. If you watch the landing carefully, you will see the times that the flames pulse on are the moments when the nose gear is scraping on the painted stripe on the runway. This is very significant. The FAA, airlines and manufacturers are always concerned with fire and especially fire avoidance and fire...

LOS ANGELES – A JetBlue airliner with faulty landing gear touched down safely Wednesday evening at Los Angeles International Airport after circling the region for three hours with its front wheels turned sideways and unable to retract into the plane. As passengers inside the plane watched the drama unfold on television sets in the cabin, the pilot landed using the back wheels first and then easing onto the front tires. The front wheels smoked, popped and sparked as the plane rolled to a stop on an auxiliary runway set apart from the main terminals. No one was hurt. "We all...

A Jet Blue aircraft just did a low altitude flyby of Long Beach airport after reporting some concern with their forward gear. The television helicopter caught an image of it - the gear is turned sideways and tilted. Aircraft is heading out towards the ocean to drop fuel, will turn around, and attempt a 'soft field' landing, keeping the nose up as long as possible.