Allegiant Airlines flight lands in Arizona after reporting engine emergency
Apr 29, 2016, 3:47 PM
(Facebook Photo)
PHOENIX — An Allegiant Airlines flight landed safely in Arizona on Thursday after the pilot reported an engine emergency.
The airline said Flight 175 between the Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco, Washington landed about 1:17 p.m. at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
The pilot reported the engine emergency prior to landing. The Tampa Bay Times reported the engine failed as the flight tried to gain altitude after a wind gust forced the pilot to abort the landing.
Pam Ronstadt, a Tucson resident, told the Times the plane struggled to gain altitude after the aborted landing.
“It felt like the pilots had to work awfully hard to bring us down for a landing,” she said. On the go-around she said the pilots seemed to struggle to gain altitude and “the plane was definitely really low.”
However, the plane landed safely and the 131 passengers and six crew members exited normally.
Ronstadt told the Times the passengers applauded when the plane landed and a flight attendant said “Well, we made it” over the public address system.
Allegiant said the aircraft was taken out of service and the cause of the issue was under investigation.
KTAR’s Lauren Grifo contributed to this report.