Tears, Prayers, Applause as Damaged Southwest Jet Makes Safe Emergency Landing

A Southwest Airlines flight bound for Midway Airport in Chicago Wednesday was forced to circle Oakland for hours and make an emergency landing because of landing-gear problems. The plane successfully landed in Oakland shortly after noon Chicago time.

For several hours, the passengers were unaware there was a problem.

“Three hours in,” said passenger Ashley Stasio of San Francisco, “I knew something wasn’t right. ... I thought I was going to die.”

As people realized there was a problem, some began texting relatives, Stasio said. Others cried.

Flight 2547, which took off at 6 a.m. Pacific time, circled for a few hours to burn off fuel before attempting to land, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said. Firefighters escorted the plane to the gate after the landing and turned it over to Southwest officials.

The flight was due in Chicago at noon, 10 a.m. Pacific time. An ABC reporter at the Oakland Airport recorded video of the plane doing a flyby at 2,000 feet as of 12:15 p.m. Chicago time, 10:15 a.m. Pacific time. The pilot did a fly by so air traffic control could inspect the landing gear.

The plane was on the ground safely five minutes later.

Jeffrey Atkins, who posted on Twitter from the plane, wrote that the problem appeared to be with equipment on the left side of the plane.

“Something on left side was making a banging noise, flashing orange light shortly after takeoff as the gear was retracted,” Atkins wrote.

He wrote that there were no other anomalies before the “smooth and uneventful” landing.

The Oakland Fire Department had sent one truck and four engines in case the plane caught on fire, a fire dispatcher said. Southwest officials said the aircraft will be taken out of service for inspection and that the airline is working to get the passengers to their destinations.

“Flight 2547 departed Oakland for Chicago Midway with 139 passengers on board. After takeoff, the Captain in Command made the decision to return to Oakland to check a maintenance item on the aircraft. With everything we do, Safety is of paramount importance and we appreciate our Customers’ patience while we work to get them to their final destinations for the holiday,” Southwest Airlines said in a statement.

The airport was under “yellow alert” during this time period and emergency ground crews, including firefighters, were on standby.

“We were all clapping and crying,” said Stasio, who was on her way to visit her parents, in an interview with NBC in California describing the moment when the plane touched down.

But the moments before that were particularly tense.

“People started to panic at the end. You never know if they are telling you the truth.”

Bay Area News contributed.