BOSTON (WHDH) - A JetBlue flight from Boston’s Logan International Airport to Florida made an emergency landing in North Carolina, and passengers said the pilot announced a hydraulics issue with the plane.
JetBlue flight B6369 to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., flew out of Logan airport at 8:24 p.m. before diverting to Raleigh, N.C., and landing at 11:16 p.m., according to the plane tracking website FlightAware. Airport fire crews rushed to meet the airplane at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
Passengers said the aircraft was shifting all over the place during the flight. Tracy Cassidy said she heard odd noises as the plane was taking off, and then strange movements later on.
“It got really bumpy. The plane was speeding up, slowing down, going up, going down, kind of tilting from side to side,” Cassidy said.
Dave Wohlman, former Boston radio disc-jockey and Cassidy’s boyfriend, said he thought there was a chance the plane could crash.
“There was abnormal movement going on on this plane. We were floating, we’re going sideways, we’re going tilting, we’re going up — with the nose up — and we’re going down,” Wohlman said.
He said he told Cassidy he loved her while she prepared to call loved ones if and when cell service was restored.
“I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ and then the pilot came on and said, ‘I’m sorry for the bumpy ride, but we’ve lost all of our hydraulics system,'” Cassidy said. “I don’t know what that means, but I figured that’s probably not a good thing to say to a plane full of people.”
The plane was an Airbus A321, according to FlightAware. The plane descended from 36,000 feet to 11,000 feet in about 12 minutes, as the flight diverted to Raleigh, according to the website.
The radar also shows the plane descending to 900 feet above Raleigh airport, and then soaring back up to 3,000, and then 4,000 feet. The plane circled around the area until it landed on the tarmac, the website shows.
“I said, ‘I bet he’s trying to run off some fuel,'” Cassidy said.
From the cockpit, the pilot announced the plane’s hydraulics had been partially restored, the couple said.
“He was fighting to keep control of the plane,” Wohlman said. “That’s why they had ambulances and police. When we came down, it was like, ‘Wow, that’s for us.’ It was a crash scene.”
Video shows passengers deplaning on the tarmac as emergency vehicles surrounded the area.
The passengers said they spent a long and uncomfortable night in Raleigh. JetBlue brought in another plane down from New York, which didn’t get to Raleigh until almost 5 a.m., the couple said. The passengers then got to Fort Lauderdale around 6:30 a.m.
JetBlue has not returned a request for comment on the incident.
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