Photo of the US Airways A320 from @han_horan
US Airways flight 1702 from Philadelphia (PHL) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) slid off the end of the runway at PHL after an aborted take off. The flight was scheduled to take off at 5:50pm EST with 149 passengers and five crew.
The airport has reported via their Twitter account that the “Nose gear of plane collapsed on runway. The incident is under investigation. All passengers safely evacuated. No reported injuries.” The airport has done a great job keeping passengers up to date with their their situation.
This incident once again shows the power of social media and how stories and photos can quickly circulate around the internet. There has even been a selfie of the wrecked aircraft posted, which has gone viral in both mainstream media and social media.
The airport was on a ground stop while handling the situation.
Just before 8:00pm, US Airways posted on Twitter, “Initial reports flt 1702 PHL-Fort Lauderdale blew a tire on takeoff & takeoff was aborted. We are taking care of our customers & crew.”
The Association of Flight Attendants reports that, “there are no crew injuries and only minor injuries to passengers.”
US Airways released a statement: ’œInitial reports indicate Flight 1702 from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale blew a tire on takeoff and the pilot elected to abort takeoff. Our crew safely evacuated the passengers and one person has requested medical assistance. We are re-accommodating passengers on a new aircraft, which is scheduled to depart later this evening.’
Image of the plane off the runway by @JimmyStyle
This story is developing…
I hope Mary Kirby wasn’t on this spectacular aborted take-off of this abomination of an airplane that is a plastic toy designed to float.
Boeing Builds It Better
Boeing 777s Have Stealth Capability, you know? Boeing airplanes are also meant to survive just about anything except terrorism and aircrew named Wi Tu Lo.
Like I said, I take no glee in any harm to humans. Airbust? Different story!
In which trailer park do you live?
Ugh….why is it every time something goes wrong on a plane, every idiot has to call it a “crash”?
This is totally a crash. Look up the definition of crash and then tell me again how this is not a crash?
To the crew of Cactus 1702, You evacuated your aircraft without injuries.
That shows great training, and preparation. Keep up the good work.
Quote from http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/us-airways-plane-crashes-in-philly/:
A witness to the crash, posting in the FlyerTalk discussion forum, said that, at approximately 6:26 p.m. local time, he saw the plane ”get 30-50 feet in the air, then come down and bounce on the runway, then be airborne for another 2-3 seconds, then land with more weight towards the front landing gear.”
The front landing gear then collapsed and sparks were visible on the runway. The plane then skidded further on the runway with light white smoke visible for at least 10 minutes thereafter.
Whats with the luggage? Feds going to have a field day with that one………..
I personally think the pilot made the wrong decision to abort the takeoff. The news media keeps saying he had a blown tire and the nose gear collapsed, but what cased the nose gear to collapse, not a blown tire. Alright, no one was seriously injured, but the plane sure was. An aborted takeoff at rotation is about the most dangerous maneuver a pilot can face.
The nose gear collapsed because he was running out of runway and he had to force the plane down onto the the runway, we call that porpoising, that’s when the nose gear collapsed and cause major damage to the plane and could have caused a fire and much more.
I think he should have retracted the gear and continued his takeoff, notified ground control that he has a blown nose tire. Ground Opps would have probably directed him to land at an airport with a very long runway, dumped some overloaded fuel, foamed the runway and had emergency equipment on hand.
Also, if only one tire blew the nose gear has two tires and landing on a foamed runway would have been near routine. These planes are tested for landing with one tire on the nose using reverse thrusters and very soft braking.
Only my opinion
Once again the us airways pilots east vs. wset have trashed another airframe. Given the info we have now once again the east pilots have sacraficed the crew, pass., and airframe due to their inabilility or inexperience to fly the a320 on one engine. The almighty sully could not push the throttles to toga ( go around thrust) an elected to land in the river with one engine operating. The west crews have demonstrated the ability to land at LGA,JFK, TEB, or Ewr under the same scenario by selecting toga on the a320 (takeoff go around)under the same conditions. Once again the “experienced” pilots of the legacy USAIRWays have totaled the airframe of a perfect airframe by overrating and dragging the tail prior to slamming the nose down and incurring crash.
When you book a flight on usairways, book flights 699 or lower to insure you are on a america west crew. America West saving bankrupt airlines an killing no passengers.