One of the passengers on board said there was no chaos on board during the landing.
A Delta plane landed at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in the US on Wednesday without its front landing gear. No injuries were reported from the incident, but the runway was closed with crews worked on removing the plane from the runway, the airport said in a Facebook post. According to Delta, the flight departed from Atlanta around 7.25am (local time). There were 96 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants on board the Boeing 717 plane, the airline further added.
“As it approached CLT, pilots received a ‘nose gear unsafe’ indication. The crew initiated a missed approach procedure to further investigate the indication,” Delta said on its website.
The plane then passed by the ATC tower in Charlotte to allow air traffic control officials to “visually inspect” it. That showed the nose landing gear doors were open, but the nose gear itself remained in the up position, Delta said.
One of the passengers on board, Chris Skotarczak, told ABC News that there was no chaos on board during the landing. He also praised the crew for their work.
Others passengers said there was clapping once the plane touched down and they deplaned, the outlet further reported. However, the passengers were told to brace for a rough touchdown.
“While this is a rare occurrence, Delta flight crews train extensively to safely manage through many scenarios and flight 1092 landed safely without reported injuries. Our next focus is to take care of our customers on this flight, including retrieving their bags and seeing them to their final destinations safely. We apologize to our customers for what they experienced,” the airline later said in a detailed statement.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the flight landed with its nose gear up and said it will investigate how that happened.