Video: Delta Flight 4951's Emergency Landing at JFK

An image from inside Flight 4951

Delta Flight 4951 was forced to make a dramatic landing at JFK airport on Saturday night because of mechanical failure due to faulty landing gear. Sparks flew as flight attendants told passengers, "Heads down! Heads down!" (you can see video taken by passenger Alessandro Albero below) None of the 60 passengers or three crew members were injured in the landing.

Flight 4951, operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines, was a connection flight headed from Atlanta to White Plains. The crew realized around 8 pm Saturday that the jet's right wheel was jammed in the up position. The flight was quickly re-routed to land at JFK (you can read the full transcript of the pilot talking to the control tower here), making the landing with only two of its three sets of landing gear. Passenger Jamie Pfeiffer said, "I could feel the vibration, I could feel it bumping" as the wing scraped the runway, according to LoHud. "I heard a guy behind me say he saw sparks. The pilot was just awesome," he added.

As can be seen in photos in the Post, the right plane of the wing virtually detached from the airplane after the incident. "It was better than the Hudson," the pilot said, referring to the U.S. Airways Flight 1549, which made an emergency landing into the Hudson River in January 2009.

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By Ben Yakas in News on September 27, 2010 8:11 AM

Comments [rss]

John L

That's a helluva pilot!

They don't mention his name in any of the articles but he should get a medal along with a nice bonus.

Guest

awesome!

Kelles

maybe she should have yelled "heads down! stay down! camera phones down!"

ides_of_march

William Shatner was on board and said he saw a big, hairy monster on the wing trying to pull it apart.

ohhleary

Why isn't Alessandro Albero being arrested for violating FAA rules, disobeying the commands of the flight crew, and putting the entire plane in danger?

There’s still shaky evidence as to whether electronic devices can interfere with a plane’s communication systems (the rules state that all electronic devices - regardless of mobile capabilities - must be turned off below 10,000 feet), but when you’re in the middle of a emergency landing and your life depends on every communication being crisp and clear, how fucking stupid do you have to be to risk this? And what good did it do? A few seconds of shaky video!

Passengers like this - who think they're above the rules - are exactly the reason Steven Slater jumped off that plane.

Side note: It may be obnoxious, but the reason the flight attendants say, "heads down, stay down," is because they're required to and trained to do so until impact or the moment the plane stops. Why do they have to be so repetitive? Because idiots like Alessandro don't listen!

buttface

The broader question here is why they didn't go through the usual procedures when landing gear is malfunctioning - no go-around to give emergency crews more time to mobilize? No dumping fuel to minimize the explosion if the tanks get lit? You sure you don't wanna try dropping that landing gear a few more times?

The communication around this seems more along the lines of "Hey guys, our landing gear isn't working. Here we come!"

Hopefully as details are released, we'll find out that they jumped through all these hoops. I surely hope if I'm on the next plane with gear issues, we'll spend at least a few minutes flying in a circle to make sure we've tried everything.

buttface

I think if any pilot read this, they would laugh.

ilovejapgirls

very observative, that is scary.

ab_bklyn

I don't know about any of you, but I'm not getting on any flight that has a number that includes 5, 4, 9, and 1 anytime soon. What a bizarre coincidence..

Ethan

She's talking to you Alessandro Albero.

matty

i would have murdered that stewardess after landing. "heads down stay down" nothing could make me feel more unsafe.

Spirit of 76

I'm guessing you don't fly much. That's the standard brace position that all passengers are supposed to adopt in a crash situation. Would you rather have your head and torso flung forward in a sudden stop because you were sitting upright, or would you rather be braced against the seat in front of you? Read the safety pamphlet the next time you're on an airplane.