There were screams and flames on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport Monday evening as an incoming plane screeched down a runway and veered into the grass without its front landing gear, airport officials said.
Southwest Flight 345 from Nashville was slated to arrive at 5:40 p.m. but never reached its gate because its nose wheel collapsed, officials said.
Passengers on the plane and witnesses who saw it land said the gear broke upon impact.
There were no serious injuries reported, but 10 people were treated at the scene and six of them were taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, officials said. The plane’s 144 passengers and six crew disembarked via emergency chutes, officials said.
“It was a bang,” said Eric Westmas, 26. “The landing was like turbulence on crack.”
An airport official said there was no advance warning of a problem. But a passenger who said the flight was delayed leaving Nashville told The Associated Press there had been an announcement that “something was wrong with a tire.”
The landing was terrifying, others said.
“The plane was sparking . . . . People were screaming,” said Rolando Ochoa, 38.
The airport reopened at 7 p.m. with one runway operating instead of two.
