JetBlue Airbus's mechanical meltdown sends it 'careening wildly through the skies' for FOUR hours
- Flight from Las Vegas to New York carrying 155 passengers on Sunday
- Travelers 'realized something was wrong after take off'
- Crew walked up and down aisles trying to prevent panic
A JetBlue Airbus was sent careering wildly through the skies for fours after a mechanical meltdown.
The 155 people on board the Las Vegas to New York flight were left terrified as the A320 aircraft lurched from side to side and went into steep turns after its hydraulic system failed.
Travis McGhie, a passenger on the Sunday afternoon flight, said: 'It was four hours of hell.'
Scroll down to hear the audio from the flight
Terror in the skies: A mechanical problem on a JetBlue flight from Las Vegas to New York this Sunday caused it make an emergency landing
Fear: Passengers said they knew something was wrong on the flight because a 'screeching' noise started after take-off
Another passenger, Tom Mizer, told the New York Post: 'People were getting sick. Some people were throwing up. There were a lot of people getting nauseous.'
They said that crew members of Flight 194 'did everything they could to prevent panic', with one attendant walking down the aisles trying to reassure people.
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Mr Mizer said: 'She said "Look at me, I'm smiling. If I was scared, you would know it. If I'm not scared, you don't need to be."'
Mr McGhie added that there was no screaming, but 'there were definitely people reacting out loud'.
He said: 'The plane kind of felt out of control. It wasn't able to balance itself, and the air was choppy.'
Making it public: One passenger tweets about her horrendous experience on board the JetBlue flight
Positive feedback: Tom Mizer, who was on board the troubled plane, said that staff walked up and down the aisles to prevent passengers panicking
The pair, both from Brooklyn, said they realized something was wrong with the aircraft as soon as they took off from Las Vegas airport.
Mr Mizer said: 'You could hear a screeching - an obvious mechanical screeching. We were bouncing around a lot.
WHAT COULD HAVE CAUSED
THE AIRBUS MELTDOWN?
Problems began for Flight 194 after the pilot radioed to say his Airbus had lost two hydraulic systems.
David Learmount, operations and safety editor of Flightglobal website, explained that the Airbus has three sets of hydraulics which means 'it can lose some and keep flying at the same time'.
In the JetBlue Airbus incident, he said: 'It sounds as if the auto-pilot tripped out which puts flying completely in the pilots' hands.
'If there is also natural turbulence at the same time, it doesn't help with regards to making passengers nervous.'
The aviation expert added: 'The hydraulic system can stop working because of the failure of a hydraulic pump or a leakage of fluid.
'The pilots would have been warned if this had happened and it can happen very suddenly.'
Mr Learmount said that it was normal for pilots to keep a plane in the air for this length of time to use up enough fuel to make it safe enough to land.
'This is standard procedure on all planes, no matter what the emergency,' he said.
'People on board got a little freaked. People were upset.
'Nobody was crazy, but everyone was upset. It became a long, sort of very tense waiting game.'
A pilot soon declared an emergency and radioed air traffic controllers to tell them that they had lost two hydraulic systems.
But as the plane contained five hours' worth of fuel, and the A320 cannot dump the excess, the pilots had to circle the area until they had burned enough to land safely.
The plane landed at Las Vegas' McCarran Airport at 7.37pm where the flight had taken off.
The aircraft had to be towed to the gate because the front wheels had stopped working.
Another plane was made available to take passengers to JFK. The flight left at 10.13pm from Las Vegas and landed at 5.59am local time in New York.
The Federal Aviation Administration has started an investigation into the incident.
JetBlue said in a statement: 'JetBlue takes all incidences seriously, and the safety of our customers and crew members is our No. 1 priority.
'The actions the crew took in response to this event truly represent who we are and our core value - safety.'
It is the latest in a long line of embarrassing incidents or accidents to hit the company.
In April, a plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Westchester County Airport, New York after two geese smacked into its windshield.
Pilots were forced to ground the craft - an Embraer 190 - after hitting the birds shortly after takeoff.
Panic: A JetBlue plane was sent careering wildly through the skies for fours after a mechanical meltdown (file picture)
Bumpy landing: The plane returnde to McCarran Airport in Las Vegas after four hours in the sky using up fuel to make it safe enough to land
A month previously, another plane was forced to make an emergency landing mid-flight after an argument broke out between two women.
The Boston-to-Chicago flight was carrying 86 passengers when it diverted to Buffalo, New York, over bomb-threat fears.
JETBLUE'S MILE-HIGH DRAMAS
April 2012: Two geese smash into plane windshield, forcing emergency landing at Westchester County Airport, New York.
March 2012: Argument breaks out mid-flight between two women, plane diverted over bomb-threat fears.
March 2012: Family with two young children kicked off a flight after a pilot refused to fly when their two-year-old daughter had a tantrum.
March 2012: Pilot Clayton Osbon has 'midair meltdown', ranting about Al Qaeda and Jesus.
September 2011: JetBlue pilot faces weapons possession charge after gun was found in his bag during a screening at LaGuardia Airport in New York.
2011: Flight from JFK to Aruba returns to airport after a 'very big bird', believed to be a turkey, sucked into the Airbus A320's engine
A family with two young children were also kicked off another flight after a pilot refused to fly when their two-year-old daughter had a tantrum.
Toddler Natalie Vieau kicked up a fuss as her parents and older sister Cecilia, three, boarded a flight to Boston after enjoying a winter vacation in the Turks and Caicos.
In September last year a JetBlue pilot was facing weapons possession charge after a gun was found in his bag during a screening at LaGuardia Airport in New York.
Also in 2011, passengers onboard a flight from JFK to Aruba had to return to the airport after a 'very big bird', believed to be a turkey, was sucked into the Airbus A320's engine.
But most infamously is the incident involving pilot Clayton Osbon, who suffered a midair meltdown on March 27.
Osbon, 49, who lives near Savannah, Georgia, had to be physically restrained after running through the cabin yelling about Jesus and Al-Qaida during a New York to Las Vegas flight.
Passengers are now suing him for his actions.
Hear the audio from the pilot on JetBlue flight 194...
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