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Passengers Recount Moments of Dread Over Dulles
By Michael Laris and Katherine Shaver
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, November 11, 2003; Page B01
The passengers sitting next to each other in Row 11 thought they were going to die yesterday afternoon after a voice from the cockpit of US Airways Flight 696 informed them they would be making an emergency landing at Washington Dulles International Airport.
The flight from Fort Myers, Fla., was headed for Reagan National Airport but was diverted after a cockpit warning light indicated problems with the landing gear, airline and airport officials said.
The Boeing 737 landed safely. The problem turned out to be the warning light and not the landing gear, the airline said. But many of the roughly 130 passengers on board were sure they were on their last flight.
Several passengers said the flight crew told them the landing gear on the right side of the plane was stuck. They said they were instructed to brace themselves, with arms crossed against the seat backs and heads down. That was the way they landed.
Kindergarten teacher Rose Scotto, who was in 11F, one of the window seats, said she sobbed and prayed as flight attendants taught her how to open the row's emergency door. "They told us our wing would probably scrape," said Scotto, who was en route from Naples, Fla., to Hartford, Conn. Her sister, who was traveling in first class, tearfully tried to get back to say goodbye but was told to stay seated. "I envisioned the plane cartwheeling," said Rose Scotto's sister, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
John S. Rovani, an investment bankerfrom Arlington County who was sitting in 11D, had just closed a big deal. He said he called the office on one of the plane's phone to make sure his family would get his commission if he was killed. Then he called his wife. " 'It doesn't look too good,' " he remembered telling her. " 'I called the office. You'll get the check. I love you. Hug the kids.' " She offered to stay on the phone with him, but he said he needed to concentrate on whatever was going to happen next.
Rovani tried to get the attention of Bob Levering of Chevy Chase, a math teacher at Green Acres School who was sitting in 11E, flying back from his mother's 80th birthday party in Florida. Levering was meditating, as he usually does on takeoffs and landings.
"I was as worried as I get," Levering said. "They said, 'There may be fire outside, so don't open the door. Look first!' " Levering said.
Several passengers said the pilot circled Dulles a few times before touching down on the left-side landing gear. They said that crew members told them the idea was to hit the tarmac with the gear on the left side to jolt the right gear loose. After that, the pilot took the plane up and came back around for a landing, they said.
US Airways spokesman David Castelveter said the pilot did not perform such a touch-and-go landing.
A light in the cockpit had alerted the pilot to problems with the landing gear, Castelveter said. The pilot diverted to Dulles, where the longer runways allow more room for a plane with landing problems. The pilot flew by the Dulles control tower, where air traffic controllers could see that the landing gear was completely down, Castelveter said. The landing gear never malfunctioned, he said.
"He did not do a touchdown," said Castelveter, who said he spoke with the pilot. "He did a flyby, learned that the landing gear was down and landed normally."
Rovani, who worked in the airline industry for nine years, was among several passengers who said the plane touched down once before heading back around for a landing.
Passengers said they were unsure until the final touchdown that the landing gear was indeed locked into place.
Levering was traveling with his sister, Barbara Levering, an employee at the Social Security Administration who lives in Alexandria and was sitting in first class, apart from her brother.
She had helped get pillows together to cushion the impact on the children in the flight if the gear never came down and the plane had to attempt a landing anyway.
"It was eerie hearing babies crying and thinking that's the last thing you are going to hear."
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
By Michael Laris and Katherine Shaver
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, November 11, 2003; Page B01
The passengers sitting next to each other in Row 11 thought they were going to die yesterday afternoon after a voice from the cockpit of US Airways Flight 696 informed them they would be making an emergency landing at Washington Dulles International Airport.
The flight from Fort Myers, Fla., was headed for Reagan National Airport but was diverted after a cockpit warning light indicated problems with the landing gear, airline and airport officials said.
The Boeing 737 landed safely. The problem turned out to be the warning light and not the landing gear, the airline said. But many of the roughly 130 passengers on board were sure they were on their last flight.
Several passengers said the flight crew told them the landing gear on the right side of the plane was stuck. They said they were instructed to brace themselves, with arms crossed against the seat backs and heads down. That was the way they landed.
Kindergarten teacher Rose Scotto, who was in 11F, one of the window seats, said she sobbed and prayed as flight attendants taught her how to open the row's emergency door. "They told us our wing would probably scrape," said Scotto, who was en route from Naples, Fla., to Hartford, Conn. Her sister, who was traveling in first class, tearfully tried to get back to say goodbye but was told to stay seated. "I envisioned the plane cartwheeling," said Rose Scotto's sister, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
John S. Rovani, an investment bankerfrom Arlington County who was sitting in 11D, had just closed a big deal. He said he called the office on one of the plane's phone to make sure his family would get his commission if he was killed. Then he called his wife. " 'It doesn't look too good,' " he remembered telling her. " 'I called the office. You'll get the check. I love you. Hug the kids.' " She offered to stay on the phone with him, but he said he needed to concentrate on whatever was going to happen next.
Rovani tried to get the attention of Bob Levering of Chevy Chase, a math teacher at Green Acres School who was sitting in 11E, flying back from his mother's 80th birthday party in Florida. Levering was meditating, as he usually does on takeoffs and landings.
"I was as worried as I get," Levering said. "They said, 'There may be fire outside, so don't open the door. Look first!' " Levering said.
Several passengers said the pilot circled Dulles a few times before touching down on the left-side landing gear. They said that crew members told them the idea was to hit the tarmac with the gear on the left side to jolt the right gear loose. After that, the pilot took the plane up and came back around for a landing, they said.
US Airways spokesman David Castelveter said the pilot did not perform such a touch-and-go landing.
A light in the cockpit had alerted the pilot to problems with the landing gear, Castelveter said. The pilot diverted to Dulles, where the longer runways allow more room for a plane with landing problems. The pilot flew by the Dulles control tower, where air traffic controllers could see that the landing gear was completely down, Castelveter said. The landing gear never malfunctioned, he said.
"He did not do a touchdown," said Castelveter, who said he spoke with the pilot. "He did a flyby, learned that the landing gear was down and landed normally."
Rovani, who worked in the airline industry for nine years, was among several passengers who said the plane touched down once before heading back around for a landing.
Passengers said they were unsure until the final touchdown that the landing gear was indeed locked into place.
Levering was traveling with his sister, Barbara Levering, an employee at the Social Security Administration who lives in Alexandria and was sitting in first class, apart from her brother.
She had helped get pillows together to cushion the impact on the children in the flight if the gear never came down and the plane had to attempt a landing anyway.
"It was eerie hearing babies crying and thinking that's the last thing you are going to hear."
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
