A JetBlue airliner experienced engine problems and returned to the Long Beach Airport on Thursday after a short flight that ended with passengers evacuating onto the runway using the plane’s emergency slides in Long Beach, California.
None of the 142 passengers and five crew members was injured during the evacuation, though medical personnel tended to three passengers at the scene and one other was taken to a hospital for observation, airport spokeswoman Cassie Perez-Harmison said.
Flight 1416 was bound for Austin, Texas, when the crew declared an emergency due to a problem with one of its two engines. The plane had an “overheat warning” on the engine, Perez-Harmison said.
According to the tracking website FlightAware, the Airbus A320 took off at 9:17 a.m. and landed at 9:30 a.m.
The airport’s main runway was closed for about two hours due to the evacuation. Eventually the plane was towed to a hangar for further investigation, and air traffic resumed.
JetBlue spokesman Morgan Johnston said the airline is still looking into the cause of the plane’s problem.
Long Beach is on the south Los Angeles County coast.