FAA investigating after Frontier Airlines hard landing in Puerto Rico
Flight 3506, an Airbus A321, was arriving from Orlando International Airport when its first landing attempt failed.
Audio from the website Broadcast includes air traffic controllers alerting pilots of 'debris on the runway' after an 'aircraft landed a bit harsh.'
'The last aircraft that tried to land in San Juan hit the surface too hard and apparently (it) lost some things in the runway,' the controller explained to another pilot. 'He has declared an emergency.'
Flight 3506 circled the airport and made two more attempts at landing, successfully touching down at 10:20 p.m. local time.
A number of other incoming planes had to land at other airports while Luis Marin International was closed.
Video from a passenger on the plane showed people onboard cheering as it finally landed.
'It was truly terrible. To fear for your life and not know what was going to happen, to not know if you were going to land safely or how everything was going to end,' Jeffrey Cerda said in a video he posted to Instagram. 'The accidents happen, and we don't know when or how they'll happen. They're accidents and they happen the moment we least expect it.'
Passengers were deplaned on the taxiway and bussed to a terminal.
'The aircraft landed safely and there were no injuries to the passengers or crew,' Frontier Airlines said in a statement. 'The incident is under investigation.'
CNN's Pete Muntean, Martin Goillandeau, Caroll Alvarado and David Williams contributed to this report
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
5 hours ago
- New York Times
Army Pilots Might Have Struggled to See Passenger Jet Before D.C. Crash
Before an Army Black Hawk crashed into a passenger jet on the night of Jan. 29, the helicopter pilots told the air traffic controller guiding them near Ronald Reagan National Airport that they saw a nearby jet and would steer clear of it. But experienced Army aviators told the National Transportation Safety Board during hearings on Friday that American Airlines Flight 5342 might have been difficult for the helicopter pilots to keep in their sights. Federal investigators will release their findings early next year about the cause of the midair collision, which killed 67 people — the worst airplane crash in the United States in nearly a quarter-century. But one question is whether the Army pilots ever actually saw the airplane that the air traffic controller flagged in his communications with them that night. In their testimony Friday, Army experts explained why that might have been difficult for the pilots, Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach, who was undergoing her annual flight evaluation, and her instructor, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves. At night, light pollution from Washington, the Pentagon and the airport itself is a common problem for pilots. It can be worse when flying with night-vision goggles, as the Army pilots were using on the night of the crash, the aviators said. Further complicating matters were exterior lights on the commercial jet that were dimmer than those on more modern planes. Even the configuration of the Black Hawks can cause sightline problems. All those factors could have complicated the Black Hawk pilots' ability to keep their eyes on the correct airplane, even after telling the air traffic controller they could see it. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CBS News
5 hours ago
- CBS News
Key takeaways from 3-day hearing on deadly D.C. midair collision
Over the course of three days of investigative hearings, the National Transportation and Safety Board sought to gather more information about the factors that lead to the deadly midair collision over Washington, D.C., in January between an Army helicopter and a passenger plane. The NTSB heard testimony from air traffic controllers, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Army, and the families of several of the victims attended. At one point on the first day of the hearings, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said of the circumstances leading up to the crash, "Every sign was there that there was a safety risk." Addressing the families, she said the hearings would be "a critical part of our ongoing investigation." On Jan. 29, a Black Hawk helicopter struck an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, as it was coming in for a landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport, killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft. The NTSB will continue its fact finding and will compile a final report with determinations about the probable cause, likely within the next year. Here are the top takeaways from the hearings: The barometric altimeter the Black Hawk crew members were relying on may have given them incorrect information, according to NTSB investigators, because the crew was calling out altitudes that were lower than the actual height at which the helicopter was flying. The helicopter and commercial airliner collided approximately 300 feet above the Potomac River, and the maximum altitude for helicopters at that part of the route near D.C.'s Reagan Airport is 200 feet. The NTSB, as part of its investigation, tested three helicopters that are in the same battalion as the one that crashed and found that the barometric altimeter for all three was off by 80 to 130 feet. Army representatives on Wednesday told investigators that discrepancy is within the accepted variability because pilots are trained to maintain their altitude at plus or minus 100 feet. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told CBS News' senior transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave the NTSB calculated the margin of error on Route Four in that area of the Potomac to be 75 feet. The Army said it is conducting additional reviews to determine how to proceed, frustrating investigators who asked why it would not make changes to the equipment, based on the findings of the NTSB tests. In 2022, an FAA working group considered moving helicopter traffic away from the airport, but ultimately did not. Transcripts from the airplane's cockpit voice recorder show the pilots received an automated verbal warning about traffic in the vicinity approximately 20 seconds before the collision. Less than two seconds before impact, the pilots shouted in alarm. Flight data indicates the plane's pilots attempted to climb to avoid the helicopter just before impact. The transcripts also reveal the pilots of the American Airlines flight questioned the move to Runway 33. The plane was originally supposed to land on Runway 1 but was redirected by air traffic controllers to Runway 33. As it was trying to land on that runway, the helicopter and plane collided. The pilots of the Black Hawk missed a key word when communicating with the air traffic control tower, according to a transcript released during the hearings of the conversation between the helicopter crew and the control tower. Fifteen seconds before the collision, DCA Tower asked the helicopter if it had the regional jet in sight. Four seconds later, the DCA Tower instructed the helicopter to pass behind the plane. The Black Hawk's cockpit voice recorder indicated that the phrase "pass behind" was rendered inaudible because a helicopter crew member pressed the microphone key. Although it was already known — based on control tower audio from that night — that the controller did not warn the American Airlines plane that the Black Hawk might cross its path, the FAA only openly acknowledged this for the first time during this week's hearings. In a key moment from the second day, Homendy asked FAA Air Traffic Oversight Service executive director Nick Fuller if any traffic advisories or alerts were issued to the plane. He responded, "No safety alerts." Homendy then asked, "Should the local controller have let the [plane] crew know that there was a helicopter there?" "Yes," Fuller responded. Rick Dressler, of Metro Aviation – which operates medical helicopters — was asked if there are units flying in the National Airport airspace that make him uncomfortable. "I don't like saying that first heli of [U.S. Air Force] from Andrews (Air Base) and I don't like saying that 12th Aviation Battalion gives us all pause in the community…," Dressler said, but "we are all very uncomfortable when those two units are operating." During the hearing, the Army admitted helicopters regularly flew below flights that land at Reagan National Airport.
CNN
14 hours ago
- CNN
NTSB probes collision avoidance technology, safety systems in final day of midair collision investigative hearings
Federal agencies Airplane crashes Aviation newsFacebookTweetLink Follow The National Transportation Safety Board questioned witnesses Friday on collision avoidance technology and organizational systems to manage risk. It is the third and final day of investigative hearings probing January's midair collision between a US Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet, operated by PSA airlines. It was the first major midair collision in the United States in decades, killing 67 people over the Potomac River, near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The first two days of testimony highlighted critical moments leading up to the collision as investigators probed witnesses about standard safety practices that should have occurred, altimeters that displayed incorrect altitude, and the helicopter route that came perilously close to the path planes use landing at the airport. There were over ten hours of testimony on each of the first two days of the hearing. Friday could go even longer to make sure everyone has an opportunity to ask questions, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said. The NTSB asks questions, but parties to the investigation including the Army, PSA Airlines, air traffic controller's union and Federal Aviation Administration can also examine witnesses. On Thursday, an FAA witness acknowledged the air traffic control tower failed to warn the pilots flying the American Airlines regional jet, operated by PSA Airlines. 'No safety alerts,' were given, Nick Fuller, the FAA's acting deputy chief operating officer of operations, testified. 'Should the local controller have let the PSA crew know that there was a helicopter there?' Homendy asked. 'Yes,' Fuller acknowledged. The tower did warn the pilots of the Black Hawk helicopter about the approaching regional jet and they said they would avoid it, transcripts of the cockpit voice recorders and air traffic control audio released revealed. Yet, moments later, the aircraft collided. Multiple air traffic controllers and pilots at Reagan National Airport told the NTSB they struggled with the constant stream of planes, leading to a 'make it work' attitude among them. 'This is 'we just make it work,' because we don't have another choice,' NTSB investigator Brian Soper said they told him in on-site interviews. 'There are airplanes coming in and everything was related to the capacity, the demand or the amount of traffic.' Another witness, Rich Dressler of Metro Aviation, which operates medical helicopters in Washington said the way the Army flies helicopters around the city makes him uneasy. 'Is there any unit that when you hear it makes you feel uncomfortable?' Soper asked. 'Sadly, yes,' Dressler responded. 'I don't like saying that 12th aviation battalion gives us all pause in the community. And I'm speaking from my group there; we are all very uncomfortable when those two units are operating.' An NTSB determination of the collision's probable cause is expected in January.
