[UPDATE] Runway Accident on Takeoff at PHL
UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.: The ground stop is over:
The ground stop has been lifted! The FAA has issued average arrival delays of 2 hours 17 minutes & departure delays averaging 44 min!
— PHLAirport (@PHLAirport) March 14, 2014
ORIGINAL:
Officials at Philadelphia International announced on Twitter early this evening that a U.S. Airways plane had lost a nose gear on takeoff, bringing flights at the airport to a standstill:
Nose gear of plane collapsed on runway. The incident is under investigation. All passengers safely evacuated. No reported injuries.
— PHLAirport (@PHLAirport) March 13, 2014
PHL is currently on a ground stop until further notice due to the US Airways collapsed nose gear incident.
— PHLAirport (@PHLAirport) March 13, 2014
Passenger Dennis Fee — partner of Tavern on Camac owner Stephen Carlino — beat the airport to the punch with a 6:26 p.m. Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/DennisFee/posts/10203437800091033
Reached on Facebook, Fee said the plane had crashed on takeoff but that he wasn’t injured, and he later shared the photo above.
The New York Daily News reported that Flight 1702 had been headed for Fort Lauderdale. More to come as the story develops.