Good News Drama As Crippled Airliner Makes Spectacular Landing In Los Angeles

A JetBlue passenger jet heading from Burbank to New York City suffered a jammed front landing gear immediately after take-off today. After three hours of burning off fuel (both for safety and to lighten the airplane) the pilot made a textbook landing. The nose gear did not straighten out but remained in place even after the tires had disintegrated. Sparks flew and flamed but the plane came to a safe stop and all passengers were removed without incident.

You can watch the video of the landing (and I think you should) by clicking on the (FoxNews) link above and then clicking where it says, "video."

One odd note is that JetBlue carries live television feeds on its on-board screens. The passengers were able to watch the local news coverage of their situation as they circled. I do not yet know if the screens were turned off during the actual landing or not. Given the fact that the oxygen masked dropped down and the passengers were ordered to enter the "braced" position, I should doubt that anyone on that plane was considering the possibility of channel surfing at that moment.

Praise and glory to the pilots on that plane who clearly knew what needed to be done and, more importantly, knew how to do it successfully!