Emergency landing by United Airlines Flight 634 shuts down Newark Liberty International Airport
Willens/AP A United Airlines Airbus 319 sits on the tarmac at Newark Liberty International Airport after making an emergency landing.
A United Airlines jet made a lopsided landing at Newark Airport Sunday, miraculously skidding to a safe stop on the runway after one of its wheels failed to deploy.
The Airbus A319 with 53 passengers and crew members on board landed on just its nose gear and left wheels, lurching onto one side and shooting sparks as its engine dragged on the tarmac.
"I've had a lot of worse landings at Newark before," said passenger Paul Lasiuk, 46, of Chicago, who was thankful to be alive after the hair-raising 9:30 a.m. landing.
Passengers praised the pilot and crew for keeping the jet from cracking up during the emergency touchdown at one of the nation's busiest airports.
"The pilot did a beautiful job," said passenger Jim Falk, 40, of Middletown, N.J. "He should be commended."
He and his fellow passengers broke into cheers and applause once the plane came to a safe stop.
United Flight 634 from Chicago had been routine as it approached Newark, its final destination.
Passengers were prepared for landing when the plane suddenly began ascending and started circling the airport.
"Normally a big plane like that doesn't do a bypass, so we knew something was wrong," said Falk, who was sitting near the front of the aircraft.
While the plane's nose gear and left wheels were deployed, its right landing gear remained lodged in the wheel well, officials said.
In the cockpit, the trouble-shooting crew attempted to get the wheels to deploy, officials said. When all failed, the pilot had no choice but to sit the 68-ton bird down with the crippled landing gear.
"Brace! Brace! Brace!" the pilot said over the intercom as passengers buried their heads in their laps poised for a crash landing.
Falk and other passengers said the landing was "unbelievably smooth" considering the plane's condition.
He said the crew remained incredibly calm. "They did a great job," Falk said. "There was no yelling, screaming, panicking or anything.
Passengers quickly evacuated the jet, sliding down to terra firma via emergency chutes. Fearful the plane might explode, passengers ran quickly away from the jet after exiting, Falk said.
United Airlines officials said the flight left Chicago at about 6 a.m. and the crew complained of no problems until the very end.
It remained unclear last night why the landing gear failed to deploy, United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said.
The names of the pilot and cockpit crew were not immediately released pending interviews with flight investigators.
Former NTSB investigator Greg Feith, who flew into Newark from Denver last night, praised the skills of the pilot and crew for safely bringing the plane down.
"You have to use everything you have available, either nose wheel, steering or flight controls to try and keep the airplane on the runway," Feith said. "The last thing you want it to do is go off the side of the runway."
whutchinson@nydailynews.com
With Katie Nelson and News Wire Services
A United Airlines Airbus A319, similar to the one involved in the incident. 
United Airlines Flight 634 made an emergency landing yesterday morning when only two of the three landing wheels on the Airbus A319 deployed as the plane was making its final approach into Newark, New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport. After multiple attempts to fix the problem failed, the pilot decided that an emergency landing was the only remaining choice.

Only the plane's nose gear and left landing gear had descended. The right landing gear would not release. The airliner made a go-around as the crew attempted to fix the problem. Passenger Jim Falk knew something was wrong saying, "Normally a big plane like that doesn't do a bypass, so we knew something was wrong." 

However, the pilot decided that nothing could be done to bring the gear down, and an emergency landing was declared.  "We are going to have an unusual landing," the pilot calmly announced to the 53 passengers seated on the plane, according to passenger Moritz Loew. Another passenger, Paul Lasiuk said he was more shocked than scared, telling himself, "You have no choice.  You're going to go through this."

"Brace! Brace! Brace!", the pilot announced over the plane's public address system, calling for passengers to enter the brace position as the plane made a touchdown on the runway at Newark. The plane touched down on the nose wheel and left rear wheel before lurching to the right causing sparks to fly as the right engine skidded along the runway. Eventually, the plane came to stop at 9:27 A.M. EDT.

Afterward, passengers and crew evacuated the plane by sliding down the evacuation slides and moving quickly away from the plane. They were then taken by bus to the airline's lounge where they told their stories to investigators and waited for their luggage. Three passengers reported minor injuries but refused treatment.

The emergency landing caused the airport to shut down for 20 minutes, but service quickly resumed on two of the airports three runways. The plane remained on the runway throughout the afternoon as investigators determined the cause of the landing gear failure. 

This is in contrast to last week, when the airport was shutdown for six hours after a young man named Haisong Jiang breached security by passing through an exit to kiss his girlfriend goodbye.

According to passengers, the crew remained calm during the ordeal. Jim Falk said, "They did a great job. There was no yelling, screaming, panicking or anything." Falk said he wanted to buy a bottle of champagne for the currently unnamed pilot. Falk added, "The pilot did a beautiful job. He didn’t put it in the water like the other pilot did, but he should be commended." 


Martin Trebino, a spokesperson for United Airlines said they would not release the pilot's name on Sunday, but did not indicate when his name would be made available either.

Paul Lasiuk said, "I've had a lot of worse landings at Newark before. It was unbelievably smooth."

Moritz Loew joked with himself afterward saying, "What's a great landing? One that you walk away from."

The flight, which left Chicago's O'Hare International Airport early Sunday morning around 6 A.M. reported no other problems during the flight up until the incident. According to United Airlines spokesperson Robin Urbanski, it remains unclear why the landing gear failed to deploy. Urbanski added that passengers' tickets would be refunded and that they would receive vouchers and credit towards any future flight.