Plane Makes Emergency Landing at University Park Airport

A commercial passenger jet bound for Washington Dulles International from Ithaca, N.Y. was forced to make an emergency landing at University Park Airport on Friday afternoon.

The United Airlines flight operated by CommutAir departed Ithaca just before 3 p.m. with 47 passengers and three crew members on board. While en route, the pilot received a warning light indicating a fire in the tail section of the plane, according to James Meyer, executive director of the Centre County Airport Authority.

University Park was the nearest airport for the plane to divert and Numerous fire and EMS crews were dispatched to the scene. The plane, however, landed safely at about 3:45 p.m.

Meyer said the plane was immediately met by emergency response personnel, and there does not appear to have been any fire.

‘They checked the tail and there is no evidence of any heat signature or anything,’ Meyer said.

All of the passengers were calm and no one was injured, Meyer said. They were brought into the airport to wait while CommutAir sent another plane to take them the rest of the way to Dulles, with an expected departure of about 6 p.m.

‘[CommutAir] have done an outstanding job,’ Meyer said.

The unexpected landing did not cause any other flight delays, Meyer said.