Hundreds of Flights Delayed Nationwide as Fire on Board United Aircraft Results in Emergency Landing at Newark Airport
A United Express aircraft taking off from Newark prior to the outage
A fire broke out in the cabin of a United Airlines flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport on Wednesday, prompting the pilots to return to Newark.
United Flight 3439 departed Newark at 4:21 p.m. local time, according to FlightAware, which tracks such information.. The pilots declared an emergency to air-traffic control and returned to Newark, making an emergency landing at 5:08 p.m.
The Embraer 170 aircraft was in the air for a total of 47 minutes.
Newark Airport was temporarily closed because of the emergency landing and the aircraft parked at a distant remote stand, where it was met by the airport’s fire department and other emergency responders.
Passengers on the Detroit flight evacuated the aircraft using emergency slides. No injuries were reported.
The airport was closed for approximately one hour and inbound traffic was temporarily diverted to nearby airports.
Alex Ellis, a passenger on a flight from San Antonio to Newark that was diverted to LaGuardia Airport, landing there at 5:47 p.m. local time because of the emergency landing, told a reporter that he had to remain on the aircraft, an Airbus A319, as the plane needed fuel and there were no open gates to park at. He said he was “irritated and hungry.” That flight departed for Newark at 7:21 p.m. and arriving at Newark Airport at 7:52 p.m.
As of 6:30 p.m. EST, Newark Airport had reported 120 inbound flight delays, a figure largely due to the emergency landing. Arrival delays at the airport ranged between 1 hour and 1 hour 15 minutes, a figure that at press time was increasing; inbound flights delayed at their point of origin were experiencing delays of an average of 56 minutes, a figure that is also increasing; and outbound flights were experiencing an average delay of 45 minutes, a figure that is decreasing.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
