Plane lands despite failed landing gear

A US Airways Express flight with 38 people aboard touched down without its front landing gear yesterday morning at Philadelphia International Airport. There were no injuries.

The crew of the deHavilland Dash-8 turboprop, flying from Allentown, notified the airport at 8:20 a.m. that they had an indication the landing gear did not descend correctly, according to airport officials.

The flight was operated by Piedmont Airlines Inc. as US Airways Express Flight 4551. There were 35 passengers and three crew members aboard.

"They did a flyover so they could observe if the landing gear was down," said Victoria Lupica, airport spokeswoman. She said emergency fire crews were activated.

The plane, on a regularly scheduled flight, then circled and landed on runway 27L at 9:20 a.m. The airport was closed for about 25 minutes. Runway 27L remained closed for about four hours, Lupica said.

"There was no smoke, there was no fire," Lupica said. She said the fire crews sprayed foam as a precaution.

The passengers and crew were evacuated by bus and taken to the terminal. There was minor damage to the plane.

The National Transportation Safety Board was notified, according to Holly Baker of the Federal Aviation Administration. The Flight Standard, a local branch of the FAA that deals with emergencies, was called to the scene.

According to the airport Web site, there were general delays of up to 30 minutes.