- Title: POLAND: Relieved passengers speak about plane's emergency landing
- Date: 2nd November 2011
- Summary: WARSAW, POLAND (NOVEMBER 1, 2011) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF AIRPORT TERMINAL (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) PASSENGER OF FLIGHT LO 016, KRZYSZTOF, SAYING: "It was calm, calm. Everybody remained calm, so there was no panic or anything, only during the exit, everybody panicked. All in all this landing seemed like it was with the landing gear out." PEOPLE WAITING FOR PASSENGERS TO COME OUT (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) PASSENGER OF FLIGHT LO 016, KRZYSZTOF ROZYCKI, SAYING: "It's very surprising. I thought I will feel like we are hitting the ground violently, but then we felt that something is touching the ground and that was it." FAMILY MEMBER HUGGING PASSENGER (SOUNDBITE) (English) PASSENGER OF FLIGHT LO 016, WIESLAW, SAYING: "So I can repeat, this plane couldn't be started. (Q: How did you learn about the problem?) Making noise, making noise after takeoff." PASSENGER LEAVING PEOPLE WAITING AT ARRIVALS HALL FAMILY MEMBER WAITING (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) PASSENGER OF FLIGHT LO 016, HUBERT WAZ, SAYING: "There was a lot of fear. Women were experiencing it more. There were tears, there were tears." ARRIVAL HALL BOARD SHOWING CANCELLED FLIGHTS (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) PASSENGER OF FLIGHT LO 016, ANDRZEJ PINNO, SAYING: "(The cabin crew) also said that its possible the landing gear opened, but the sensors don't show it. That's why after the landing everybody thought that the landing gear was indeed open. It turned out this was only because the landing was executed perfectly." VARIOUS BOEING 767 AIRPLANE ON RUNWAY AFTER EMERGENCY LANDING EXIT AT FRONT OF AIRPLANE MORE AIRPLANE EXIT AT TAIL OF AIRPLANE
- Embargoed: 17th November 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Poland, Poland
- Country: Poland
- Topics: Accidents,Transport
- Reuters ID: LVACU10YD0XRXHY8X6EAMWZCHJWH
- Story Text: No one was hurt when a Boeing 767 flying from New York with some 230 people on board made an emergency landing at Warsaw's airport on Tuesday (November 1) after trouble with landing gear.
A spokesman for the Polish national flag carrier LOT, operator of the plane, said that all safety procedures worked perfectly fine therefore nobody was injured.
Overwhelmed passengers who were greeted at the airport by relived relatives complimented the pilot and the crew for the successful landing.
"It was calm, calm. Everybody remained calm, so there was no panic or anything, only during the exit, everybody panicked. All in all this landing seemed like it was with the landing gear out," said Krzysztof.
"It's very surprising. I thought I will feel like we are hitting the ground violently, but then we felt that something is touching the ground and that was it," added Krzysztof Rozycki.
"(The cabin crew) also said that its possible the landing gear opened, but the sensors don't show it. That's why after the landing everybody thought that the landing gear was indeed open. It turned out this was only because the landing was executed perfectly," said Andrzej Pinno.
Others described the panic among the passengers.
"There was a lot of fear. Women were experiencing it more. There were tears, there were tears," said Hubert Waz.
Live television footage showed the Boeing craft landing on its belly, with a few sparks flying as it hit the runway covered with flame retardant foam. There was no blaze but firefighters hosed the plane with water and foam as a precautionary measure.
Poland's President Bronislaw Komorowski said he would award state decorations to the crew of the plane after briefly talking to the pilot on the phone.
LOT said the hydraulic system responsible for operating the wing flaps and the landing gear failed, and backup system worked only for the flaps -- forcing the emergency landing.
Passengers were evacuated from the plane, which had circled for nearly an hour above Warsaw before landing. The airport was due to remain closed for other flights until Wednesday morning (November 2).
Poland was shocked by an air catastrophe in April 2010, when a government plane carrying president Lech Kaczynski and 95 others, mostly senior state officials, crashed while trying to land in thick fog in western Russia, killing all on board. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None