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First-Person Flight Reviews: An Unscheduled Stop on AA

This is the path for American Airlines Flight 268 yesterday. Normally wouldn't be a big deal--except that flight is supposed to go to JFK. It made an unscheduled stop at ORD after an "electrical system issue." Because pilots couldn't rely on their gauges for the landing, the 757 ended up off the runway with a blown tire.

Blogger Pam Mandel was on the flight, and wrote up a pretty riveting account of what it's like to be on a plane greeted by a phalanx of emergency personnel at the airport:

The flight attendents were like angels, perfectly calm and in good humor. The passengers sat and joked, I snapped pictures of the fire crew out the window and as they boarded the plane. Finally the left engined whirled to a halt and a cheer went up in the cabin....

I managed not to fall down the stairs--I was a little jittery--and I stepped on the grass. A woman in full secrurity gear looked at me and smiled. "Welcome to Chicago O'Hare!" she said, and I laughed.

Not as crazy as a mid-air collision--but that's a good thing!

Related Stories:
· AA 268 [FlightAware]
· "Unscheduled Landing" [NEV]
· Plane Diverted to ORD Blows Tire [CT]