A plane that skidded off the runway and was disabled had temporarily closed Newark Airport (EWR), delaying numerous flights and causing others to be diverted to nearby airports. The airport is now open again, but delays will still be severe. Here’s what happened. (Note: You can see more photos of the damage to the plane in Heavy’s story here.)
Flight activity at EWR has resumed following an earlier incident, but delays are expected to continue. Passengers should call their carrier for info. [99]
@EWRairport Landing and take-off at EWR slowly resuming
Another update was shared later. The plane will not be moved for a while.
EWR is now operating in a limited capacity. The NTSB has instructed that the aircraft in the earlier incident not be moved until investigators arrive. [03]
But some people are reporting that their flights still can’t land there.
@EWRairport Been on the ground for 2 hours in Boston and captain is telling us no flights can land in Newark
United Airlines Flight 627 landed around 1 p.m. but then skidded to the left, leaving its landing gear stuck in the grass, PIX 11 reported. On some flights, passengers were told the plane might have skidded or blown a tire, although this has not been confirmed. No injuries have been reported yet, but this is going to cause significant delays that could last much of the day. Inbound flights for EWR are being held until 3 p.m. Eastern. But flights that have been delayed could be delayed from 30 minutes to an hour, passengers have reported. Newark Airport is resuming flights, passengers have said, but the delays will still be significant.
Many are still waiting and aren’t close to leaving yet.
@EWRairport I’m in Montreal Canada and we were just told we are basically stuck here because there’s no flights, we’re not being given any information on how to rebook flight 😔🤬
Here’s a video of the scene earlier:
And a photo of the United Airlines plane, shared by @bangzilla on Twitter. You can see the damage at the bottom of the plane near the wheel.
Twitter/bangzillaUnited Airlines plane
Another closeup photo:
Harsh landing on @United #UA627 at @EWRairport today. News #BreakingNews says we skid off runway but I can tell you we bounced.
Here’s another photo shared by Michael Ramas on Twitter.
Twitter/Michael Ramas
FlightAware is estimating that the average delay today could be at least 90 minutes for departing flights, but that departure time is likely to increase. Every time the Flight Aware link is checked, it seems like the reported delay time is increased.
Newark Liberty Airport first shared the news on Twitter.
Due to an airport emergency there are currently no arrivals nor departures from Newark Airport.Please check with your carrier before coming to the airport [97]
Newark has also asked travelers to check their carrier before coming to the airport.
Other passengers received more details from their pilots. For some, this delay happened after a mechanical delay earlier. Beth Ziesenis wrote: “Wow. Our pilot just announced they shut down the Newark airport while they remove a disabled plane. This is after a mechanical delay.”
Wow. Our pilot just announced they shut down the Newark airport while they remove a disabled plane. This is after a mechanical delay. #willievergettotoronto #WEC19 #ewr
On another flight, a pilot shared that the plane had skidded and blew a tire.
@adamwilhite @ZaidaGrunes @NerdyBFF @FenixLFT Our pilot just announced a plane landed and blew a tire. Flight attended added that the plane may have skidded off runway. So there is debris on the runway.
Others heard there might have been fuselage damage from the landing, but that’s also not confirmed.
United Airlines flight #UA627 (operated by a Boeing 757-200) reportedly performed a hard landing at Newark Airport, resulting in fuselage damage
t.co/HENxApVmLa
Others heard that a nose gear collapsed on a plane that had landed and the wait might be as long as three hours.
According to Jason Rabinowitz on Twitter, passengers said the plane bounded twice and a tire might have burst, but the pilots were able to wrestle the plane to a safe stop without injuries to the passengers.
Here’s a photo of #UA627 at @EWRairport. Aircraft nose is still on the pavement, but just barely. I’m told it bounded twice on landing and a tire may have burst but the pilots wrestled it to a safe stop.
Up close pictures show blown tires and damage to the nose landing gear. The pilots did a great job keeping passengers safe despite this.
UPDATE. Pictures showing significant damage to nose landing gear and blew tires after United flight #UA627 performed a hard landing at Newark.
Here is FAA’s official statement on what happened.
FAA Statement on United Airlines Flight 627:
Some people have been stuck waiting for two hours or more.
@EWRairport @AmericanAir I’ve been stuck on the tarmac for 2 hours flight 1834, do you guys have any kind of eta?
The good news is that regular flight activity at the airport is expected to resume soon. However, with so many flights delayed, it will take a while for flights to catch up even when the airport is no longer closed.
Passengers have been safely deplaned following an earlier incident at EWR and the airport is working to resume flight activity. Delays are expected. [98]
If you’re waiting, you’ll likely still see delays. “Women for Democrats” tweeted at around 3:30 p.m. Eastern: “We are at the airport. They have resumed boarding (and reboarding flights), but very little takeoff and landing activity. Looks to me like there will be a long wait on the tarmac for takeoff. I think they need to get all of us off the ground before more flights can come in.”
Other flights were still being diverted even after EWR opened.
@EWRairport Flight diverted to Bradley Intl, captain said flights still aren’t going in/out of EWR? EWR twitter says flights resumed 5 mins ago….what’s the deal?
FlightRadar is a good source for keeping up with delays. You can view delays by airports or search for details on your specific flight.
READ NEXT: See photos of the damaged plane that closed the Newark Airport.