NEWARK (1010 WINS) – A plane made an emergency landing at Newark Airport Saturday morning, blowing two of its tires and temporarily halting flights at the busy air hub.
All passengers deplaned safely via slides, but the airport temporarily stopped all arrivals and departures before opening with delays about an hour after the incident.
Some arriving flights were averaging a delay of more than 90 minutes because of the emergency landing, according to the FAA. Newark Airport tweeted that "full flight activity" had been restored by about 2 p.m.
The United flight had just taken off from LaGuardia Airport and was headed to Houston when it made the emergency landing around 8:45 a.m.
"The crew reported a brake problem. The two left main tires blew when landing,” the FAA said in a statement.
The Port Authority said there was also other structural damage that forced closure of the runway.
United Airlines spokeswoman Andrea Hiller said the pilots "reacted quickly to ensure the safety of the aircraft and our customers.''
John Murray, a passenger on the plane, told 1010 WINS that they were only in the air about 10 minutes before they started circling over northern New Jersey before ultimately landing in Newark.
“The landing was a little rough, but nothing out of the ordinary from other flights that I’ve taken. And upon landing I saw emergency crews driving towards the plane and flight attendants started directing us all to leave the aircraft,” he said.
Murray said firefighters were spraying water on one of the wheels of the diverted plane.
The FAA said it will investigate the incident.