A LOT Polish airlines Boeing 767 flying from New York with 227 people on board makes an emergency landing at Warsaw's airport on November 1, 2011 after having problems lowering its landing gear. The plane had dropped fuel and circled above Warsaw for some time and a landing strip was especially prepared at the airport for the crash landing. No one was injured during the emergency landing according to a LOT spokesman. (Wojtek Radwanski / AFP - Getty Images) Share Back to slideshow navigation




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A Boeing 767 of Polish LOT airlines makes an emergency landing at Warsaw airport, November 1. The plane en route from Newark with 230 people onboard made an emergency landing in Warsaw airport on Tuesday. No passengers were hurt, Polish media reported. (Peter Andrews / Reuters) Share Back to slideshow navigation



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    Related story Plane crash-lands at Warsaw's international airport, no one injured
    A Polish Arlines LOT boeing 767 on the runway after it crash landed at Warsaw Airport in Warsaw, Poland, on November 1. The plane, carrying 230 people, landed on special foam after its landing gear did not open. According to reports no one was injured. (Jacek Turczyk / EPA) Share Back to slideshow navigation



  • Fire engines spray fire retardant on a LOT Polish airlines Boeing 767 as passengers leave the plane as after it made an emergency landing at Warsaw's airport on November 1, after having problems lowering its landing gear. The plane had dropped fuel and circled above Warsaw for some time and a landing strip was especially prepared at the airport for the crash landing. No one was injured during the emergency landing according to a LOT spokesman. (Wojtek Radwanski / AFP - Getty Images) Share Back to slideshow navigation

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WARSAW, Poland — A Boeing airliner carrying 231 people from the U.S. landed on its belly Tuesday in Warsaw after its landing gear failed to open, triggering sparks and small fires. No one was hurt, but a relative of a passenger said some on board panicked, crying and bidding final farewells to each other.

The pilots of the Polish LOT airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, discovered a problem with the chassis ahead of touching ground. They circled the 767 above the airport for about one hour before descending without lowering the wheels, said Przemyslaw Przybylski, a spokesman for the Warsaw airport.
LOT spokesman Leszek Chorzewski said the plane landed with nearly empty fuel tanks after dumping fuel in preparation for the emergency landing.
A fire brigade laid out special flame retardant foam for the plane to land on. On landing, sparks flew from the engine and small fires erupted under the plane but were immediately put out by firefighters.
Relatives of passengers waiting at the airport sought information as the emergency unfolded.
Joanna Dabrowska, 29, managed to speak to her mother-in-law, a passenger, via mobile phone after she evacuated the flight. Dabrowska said some of the passengers apparently feared the worst.
"People were saying their final farewells to each other and some were sobbing," Dabrowska told The Associated Press.


Dabrowska was among a group of relatives waiting at the airport in a special room. Her mother-in-law was returning home after a month-long visit in Clinton, New Jersey. According to the mother-in-law, passengers removed their shoes and evacuated the plane using the emergency slide.
"She was in shock, but she was fine," Dabrowska said. She declined to give her mother-in-law's name because she didn't have her permission.
Other relatives at the airport would not talk to reporters. One woman whose husband and two sons were on board said she was relieved, but was shaking and declined to give her name or say more.

Passengers were taken to a medical center and were examined by doctors, Przybylski said. Meanwhile, Polish media were declaring the pilot a hero.

LOT airlines president, Marcin Pirog, told reporters that Captain Tadeusz Wrona and co-pilot Jerzy Szwartz carried out a "perfect emergency landing," which prevented anyone from being injured.

"It is the first time a LOT plane had to land without the landing gear out," Pirog said, noting that such landings do not always end well.
Poland's President Bronislaw Komorowski congratulated and thanked the crew and emergency workers for ensuring no one was hurt.
"I thank everyone with my whole heart in the name of Poland," Komorowski said.
The airport has been closed until 8 a.m. on Wednesday. Flights which had been scheduled to land in Warsaw have been diverted to Lodz, Gdansk and Krakow.