Monday, December 15, 2008

Air Wisconsin regional jet incident at Philadelphia

Air WisconsinOn the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 14, 2008, an Air Wisconsin Bombardier CL-600 aircraft (registration N407AW) made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport with the left main landing gear retracted. According to the FAA preliminary report about the incident, the aircraft sustained minor damage. No one was injured.

At the time of the incident, the aircraft, operating as Flight AWI3918, was repositioning from Norfolk to Philadelphia with a crew of two pilots and one flight attendant on board. The crew were unable to extend the left main gear. A news report about the incident on NBC Philadelphia quoted an Air Wisconsin spokesperson who said that sparks could be seen flying from the left wing of the aircraft as it skidded down the runway to a stop. Emergency crews applied fire retardant as the crew evacuated the aircraft.

The airport was closed for several hours following the incident. All departing and arriving flights were delayed, according to airport officials. The airport reopened at about 6:30PM local time.