A Delta Air Lines plane wing struck the runway and set off sparks while landing at a New York airport.
The left wing of the Bombardier CRJ-900 hit the ground while touching down around 10.10pm at LaGuardia Airport on Sunday as pilots ‘executed a go-around’, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
An air traffic controller told pilots in recorded audio: ‘Somebody saw some sparks from one of your wings, you guys feel anything?’
‘We didn’t, but we’ll check it,’ replied one of the pilots.
The plane, operated by Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air, had 76 passengers, two flight attendants and two pilots aboard.
No one was injured, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
‘The Endeavor Air flight crew followed established procedures to safely enact a go-around at New York-LaGuardia. The aircraft landed safely and proceeded to its arrival gate,’ stated Delta.
‘We apologize to our customers for the experience.’
A go-around maneuver is when a pilot aborts a landing and ascends again in order to try another approach on the runway. It is not uncommon.
The FAA is investigating the incident. The plane is out of service until further notice as maintenance teams inspect it.
Operations at the airport were not affected, said the Port Authority.
Endeavor is the same regional airline that operated the Delta plane that flipped upside down in a crash landing amid icy conditions at Toronto Pearson Airport last month. All 80 passengers and crew members survivedthe terrifying incident, and more than 20 were taken to nearby hospitals. That plane was also a CRJ-900.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is working to determine the cause of the crash, but the investigation could take months.
Sunday’s wing hit is the latest in a string of worrisome plane incidents in the US. An American Airlines and Black Hawk helicopter collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, DC, in January killed all 67 people aboard both aircrafts and is the worst aviation disaster in America since 2001.
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