A Boeing 767 carrying 231 people has made an emergency landing in Poland after its landing-gear failed to open. The plane belly-flopped onto the runway and screeched along the tarmac spraying sparks until it eventually came to a standstill.
The LOT Polish airlines plane had taken off from Newark Airport in New Jersey, USA, and was approaching Warsaw, when the pilots discovered a problem with the chassis. The aircraft had to circle above the airport for some 60 minutes before the decision was taken to land the plane on its belly – without using its wheels.
The runway was covered with flame-retardant foam for the plane to land on. The vehicle did not catch on fire during or after braking, but firefighters hosed it with water and foam as a precautionary measure.
“All safety procedures worked perfectly fine and, thanks to this, nobody was injured,” said Leszek Chorzewski, spokesman for the Polish national carrier LOT, as quoted by Reuters.
Poland’s President Bronislaw Komorowski congratulated and thanked the pilot, Captian Tadeusz Wrona, and the rest of the crew for their successful landing, reports the Associated Press.
Due to the incident, Warsaw airport will be closed until 8 am on Wednesday.