New video from a passenger shows the propeller of a passenger plane not moving while in mid-flight. The plane made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International airport Tuesday. NBC10’s George Spencer gives us a passenger’s-eye view of what happened.
Passengers evacuated a plane after it made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport Tuesday afternoon.
A fire broke out in one of the No. 2 engines of the turbo-prop United Express plane, said airport officials.
UAL Flight No. 4882, which was carrying 71 passengers and a crew of four, originated in Raleigh-Durham International Airport and was headed to Newark Liberty International Airport when the cockpit received an overheat indication, prompting the shutdown of one of the engines.
One passenger sent NBC10 video of the propeller not moving as the plane continued to fly. Everett Cunningham, another passenger, told NBC10 he could see the propeller stop in mid-air as fire consumed it.
"Midway through the flight we heard a loud sound," Cunningham said. "I was on the left side of the plane and looked off to the right side. The propeller stopped. People in the back of the plane reported smoke and fire. That's what happened. They said we were gonna take an emergency landing in Philly."
All of the passengers and crew were evacuated in minutes after the de Havilland Dash 8-400 (DHC 8-400) made an emergency landing around 4 p.m.
"They told everybody to not grab our stuff and to get off the plane immediately," Cunningham said. "People were going off the back of the plane and the front of the plane."
SkyForce10 captured passengers standing on the grass next to the apron. AnnMarie Kreitzer, a passenger on another flight, captured the smoky plane on the tarmac in Philadelphia.
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SkyForce10 also captured an elderly person being loaded onto a stretcher and into a waiting ambulance. Officials say the passenger had a history of heart problems and was having chest pains when the plane landed. He was taken to Penn Presbyterian. No one else was hurt during the ordeal.
The FAA halted incoming air traffic at PHL. All flight operations returned to normal soon after.
The flight left Raleigh at 2:33 p.m. and was due to land in Newark at 4:29 p.m.
The plane remained on the asphalt for some time -- a white foam was used to extinguish the flames under its belly -- until it was towed off the runway around 4:40 p.m.
Charter buses later picked up the passengers from baggage claim and took them to Newark.
"I've missed my flight," said Brian Giordano, another passenger. "So I'm imagining they're gonna put us in hotels and I'll figure it out tomorrow."
An official with Republic Airlines, the company that operated the flight, said maintenance staff was "reviewing the issue."
