The plane was well into its final descent toward Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday morning when it began a sudden and unmistakable climb.
There was “a little problem,” the pilot told the 48 passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 634. Only two of the three landing wheels had opened successfully, and after repeated attempts to fix the problem had failed, those aboard were instructed to prepare for a crash landing.
A passenger, Paul Lasiuk, 46, described himself as more shocked than scared.
“You have no choice,” he said. “You’re going to go through this.”
That Mr. Lasiuk and his fellow passengers were able to describe their emotions  as well as the fairly graceful landing with only two landing wheels in place  was testament to the abilities of the five-person crew, they said later.
No one was injured in the emergency landing of the plane, an Airbus A319, which left O’Hare International Airport in Chicago around 6 a.m. and landed just before 9:30 a.m., said a spokeswoman for United Airlines.
As the plane prepared to make its emergency landing, Newark Airport grew large in the cabin windows. The loudspeaker then blared: “Brace! Brace! Brace!”
With the passengers curled into defensive postures and electricity switched off, the plane touched the ground, passengers said. The plane hit gently, riding down the runway on the front wheel and the left rear wheel before tipping to the right, where the rear wheel had failed to deploy. Sparks flew as the metal underbelly of the engine ground against the tarmac, but the plane continued to slide straight.
Jubin Nakhai, 34, said he was still holding his ankles, head between his knees in the brace position passengers had been instructed to assume, when someone told him the plane had stopped moving, adding, “You’re safe.”
The emergency landing briefly shut down the airport, but after about 20 minutes, two of the three runways were back in operation, said a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The Airbus remained on the third runway into the afternoon as investigators examined why its landing gear had failed, said the spokesman. The closing of the runway delayed some flights by about an hour.
The emergency landing returned focus to the Newark airport, one of the nation’s busiest, exactly a week after a man skipped past security, causing a six-hour shutdown of a major terminal on one of the biggest travel days of the year. An intensive manhunt following the security breach led to the arrest on Friday of Haisong Jiang, a 28-year-old Rutgers University graduate student, who apparently crossed into the secured area to kiss his girlfriend goodbye.
On Sunday, the scene was mostly celebratory aboard the United flight when it finally came to rest, passengers said. The cabin, which was less than half full, erupted with tears, applause and spirited proclamations that the landing had been even smoother than usual. The pilot thanked everybody for staying calm and helping one another.
“Anytime you’re up in the air and you realize you have a problem, you wonder if you’re going to make it,” said one of the passengers, John Wiman, 51, of Chicago. Outside, where emergency vehicles were already waiting, the smell of smoke hung in the clear, cold morning. The passengers and the crew slid out of the plane on inflatable emergency exit chutes and were taken by bus to an airline lounge in the main terminal, where they recounted the story to investigators and waited for their luggage.
When everyone left about two hours later, the passengers were full of praise for the crew, speaking with amazement at how well everything had worked out.
“I’ve had a lot of worse landings at Newark before,” said Mr. Lasiuk, who lives in Chicago and was traveling on business. “It was unbelievably smooth.”
Jim Falk, 40, who lives in New Jersey, swore that he would buy a bottle of Champagne for the pilot, whose name was not immediately released.
“The pilot did a beautiful job,” Mr. Falk said. “He didn’t put it in the water like the other pilot did, but he should be commended.”
Moritz Loew, 39, who also lives in New Jersey, was jubilant as he left the airport shortly after noon.
“What’s a great landing?” he asked, laughing as he set himself up for his own punch line. “One that you walk away from.”
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.