There was a close call on a flight coming into JFK airport from Rio de Janeiro this morning. According to FAA officials, a TAM Airlines flight had what officials described as "twisted front landing gear," Which sounds similar to testicular torsion, though not quite as terrifying. As the plane approached JFK, the 190 passengers on board were told to "get into crash position" and the plane circled the airport in a tense limbo.
“Everyone was panicking inside the plane,” Rio resident Anna Maria Falcao tells the Post. "Even the crew was running around panicking, saying ‘Don’t worry, no one’s going to die.’ So many people were crying." Port Authority rescue workers staged on the tarmac for an emergency response, believing the plane would be coming in for a hairy landing.
But then, somehow, the landing gear moved into the proper position and the plane landed without incident at 11 a.m. One Port Authority rescuer says there's a simple explanation. “It was like the hand of God turned the wheel,” the rescuer told the Post. Another passenger confirms: “It was a perfect landing, better than normal." In a statement, God said, "NBD, I was on my way back from a Capoeira festival in Brazil anyway."
