Piedmont Airlines Dash-8 Lands with Nose Gear Up

A US Airways Express plane, operated by Piedmont Airlines, made a successful emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport Sunday morning.Originating in Allentown, PA, Piedmont Flight 4551 had 35 passengers and 3 crewmembers on board. On approach to PHL, the pilots extended the landing gear, but did not get a down and locked indication for the nose gear.

An airport flyover confirmed the Dash-8's nose gear was not down, airport spokeswoman Victoria Lupica said. Airport fire crews then foamed the runway in preparation for the plane's touchdown. As the plane skidded down the runway on its nose, there was no fire, and no injuries were reported, Fox News said.

After landing, passengers were deplaned and shuttled to the terminal by bus. The airport was closed for about 25 minutes, Lupica said. Although the runway was closed until early afternoon, PHL's three other runways remained open. The disruption of activity caused up to three-hour delays of some incoming flights, according to airport officials.

US Airways spokesman Morgan Durant said the cause of the problem is under investigation. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are also investigating, Lupica said.

Piedmont Airlines, Inc. operates as a US Airways Express carrier and is a wholly owned subsidiary of US Airways, with 440 daily departures to 55 cities throughout the eastern United States and Canada. Their fleet consists of 55 deHavilland DHC-8 turbo prop aircraft.