Plane Rolls Off Runway After Emergency Landing At New York Airport

[April 03, 2014]  (Reuters) — A Delta Air Lines Inc flight made an emergency landing at a New York airport on Wednesday after a cockpit indicator signaled a hydraulic system problem, and the aircraft later rolled into a grassy area, an airline official said.

Flight 886, which was carrying 118 passengers and five crew from an Atlanta airport to New York's LaGuardia Airport, was diverted to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) because it has longer runways, Delta spokeswoman Leslie Scott said.

"It wasn't traveling fast when it happened," Scott said. "They landed normally at JFK, but once they were taxiing to the gate, the aircraft exited the taxi-way and ended up in the grassy area."

There were no reports of injuries, and passengers were disembarked and shuttled to a terminal, Scott said. The twin-engine, single-aisle McDonnell Douglas MD-88 left at about 6:45 p.m. Eastern Time (22:45 GMT) and landed at JFK at about 9 p.m. Eastern Time.

A cockpit indicator signaled a problem with the hydraulic system, which controls multiple systems, including the brakes, as the roughly 147-ft (44.8-m) plane was descending into the New York area, Scott said.

Delta maintenance crews, who towed the aircraft out of the grass, were evaluating the plane to determine if there was a mechanical failure, Scott said.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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