Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Tense moments on board a flight from Salt Lake City to Long Beach, as the flight crew began preparing passengers for a crash landing.
Delta Flight 4719, operated by SkyWest, was on approach to Long Beach, Calif., when there was an indication that the landing gear was not working, a SkyWest spokeswoman confirmed.
"One mother was calling out to her child, saying that she loved him and the people were starting to get a little nervous at that point," passenger Shawn Park told KSL Newsradio.
As the CRJ200 plane circled and pilots determined their course of action, the anxieties deepened for the 47 passengers.
"We heard quietly on the intercom the pilot say, ‘pray, pray, pray,' and everybody still stayed pretty calm," Park said. But others report that the pilot actually was saying "brace, brace, brace."
"At that point they started getting really nervous, and there were several passengers crying," Park said.
Fortunately, it was a smooth landing and the landing gear deployed as it should.
"It's standard operating procedure in these instances for flight crews to proceed on the side of safety," SkyWest spokeswoman Marissa Snow said.
A steering issue in the nose of the plane was detected after landing, Snow said. The plane was towed to the gate.
E-mail: aadams@ksl.com
