ST. LOUIS (1010 WINS) – New Jersey college students aboard a Newark-bound flight got a scare Sunday when their plane nearly stopped in midair and had to make a U-turn back to St. Louis because of engine problems.
1010 WINS newsman Glenn Schuck was aboard the United Express flight after taking part in a conference for college broadcasters with six students from Seton Hall University.
The plane took off around 8:30 a.m. but about 20 minutes into the flight, passengers could hear the plane “almost come to a stop in midair,” Schuck says.
“We just kind of floated there and then the pilot started turning to the left, and immediately we could figure out he was making a U-turn back to St. Louis,” Schuck said, adding that it was “pretty scary.”
One of the Seton Hall students, Jill Fitzpatrick, also noticed the aircraft jerking around.
“All of the sudden the plane was taking all sorts of strange turns, and overhead on the loudspeaker eventually we learned there were problems with the engine and we were flying back to St. Louis instead of Newark,” Fitzpatrick said.
She said Sunday was a “very long day” and called the experience “frightening.”
It turns out the plane had an oil leak that affected one of the engines.
No injuries were reported.
In a statement a spokesperson for CommutAir, which operates as United Express, wrote: "CommutAir Flight 5018, operating as United Express, from St. Louis to Newark, returned to St. Louis to address a mechanical issue. The flight landed safely and our customer service team is working to mitigate this unplanned disruption for our customers."