A United Airlines flight en route from Denver arrived without incident Wednesday night at the Salt Lake International Airport despite the pilot preparing passengers for an emergency landing.
When the crew of Flight 481 announced that the plane's flaps refused to engage, at least one passenger said she experienced a fear that lurks in the minds of many fliers. The jetliner, a Boeing 737 capable of holding more than 100 passengers, bounced several times upon impact, she said."I was praying, writing letters," she said. Because the woman is a frequent United customer, she declined to be identified.
"They kept trying the flaps and they wouldn't work," she said. The pilot announced the problem to passengers some 10 minutes prior to landing. She said the crew made the group prepare for an emergency. However, the passengers remained calm.
On the ground, family and friends of those aboard Flight 481 said they watched the emergency vehicles drive past the terminal but weren't told of the potential emergency.
"They didn't tell anyone on the ground," said one man who had arrived to pick up a friend.
He said the landing was completed successfully by using the brakes to slow the aircraft.
Both he and the passenger verified that those on board were not allowed to leave the plane for some time, due to concerns that the brakes may have caught fire. The passenger said she smelled a strong odor of burning rubber after the plane stopped.
Airport officials verified that the flight landed without full use of its flaps. United Airlines officials were unavailable for comment.
Brian Van Winkle, airport communications coordinator, down-played the incident, saying the brakes-only landing is standard procedure.
"It's a very routine thing," he said.
Tom Trousky, airfield operations superintendent, said that while a flap failure is uncommon, it falls into the category of alert, which the airport sees an average of once a day.
Airfield manager Norm Thompson said a landing at 130 mph is normal, but he couldn't estimate the landing speed of the Wednesday flight. He said it was faster than usual.
"I'd rather not try to commit myself to what the risk was," he said, adding that the four fire engines and paramedic team alerted for the flight constitute a standard response. "We'd rather be safe than sorry."
Flight 481 originated in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with Salt Lake City its final destination.