Last updated on: 7/30/2007 11:48:20 AM by NBC2 News
LEE COUNTY: A Southwest Airlines flight on its way to Southwest Florida International Airport had to make an emergency landing in St. Louis late Sunday night because of a problem with the hydraulics.
Southwest Airlines flight 2897 left Chicago and was thousands of feet in the air when the pilot announced that they need to make an emergency landing in St. Louis.
“It made me nervous, it’s an eye opener that planes aren’t entirely safe,” said Carolyn Weise, one of the 86 passengers on the flight.
“I cried. I cried. It took a lot for me to get back on a plane again,” added another passenger, Lindsey Lannon.
But passengers said the crew did their best to get people prepared and keep them calm.
“They said it was an emergency landing, a potential crash landing. The staff did a great job of keeping us calm, cool and collected,” said Mary Ann Mars.
The plane touched down safely in St. Louis and the celebration began.
“Everybody was cheering and clapping. We gave the crew and captain a standing ovation,” said Weise.
Airline officials say the brakes were overheating and that caused alarms in the cockpit to go off.
Passengers were only stranded in St. Louis for a few hours. They were loaded on to a different plane and arrived at Southwest Florida International Airport around 1:40 a.m.