United Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing In New Orleans

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – The United Airlines jet had just taken off under windy conditions when the plane began rocking back and forth. The captain says he had to land and brake using backup systems. The aircraft ran off the runway on its return and blew a tire. United says the plane carried 100 passengers and five crew members. Smoke was reported in the cockpit. One passenger says there was a sound like hail hitting the Airbus A-319 just before it made the emergency landing. All managed to get off the aircraft by jumping down chutes deployed on both ends of the plane. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
For WWNO, I'm Eileen Fleming.