JetBlue Embraer ERJ-190 Flight From Chicago to New York JFK

The crew requested the emergency services on standby and subsequently declared emergency due to an abnormal flaps indication

By: Fuat Kircaali

Nov. 26, 2009 07:30 PM

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I see Simon Hradecky, the site editor of The Aviation Herald (www.avherald.com) reported this a few hours ago, about our JetBlue emergency landing experience on Saturday, November 21.

"A JetBlue Embraer ERJ-190, registration N279JB performing flight B6-904 from Chicago O'Hare, IL to New York JFK, NY (USA) with 64 passengers and 4 crew, was on final visual approach to JFK's runway 31R descending through 2000 feet, when the crew reported they needed to abort the approach due to a slat/flap indication.

The airplane climbed back up to 3000 feet and was vectored to allow the crew troubleshoot the problem. The crew requested the longer runway 31L and advised, their approach speed would be "a little bit higher" and requested the emergency services on standby and subsequently declared emergency due to an abnormal flaps indication. The airplane landed safely on runway 31L 25 minutes after aborting the first approach and taxied to the apron."

I was in this JetBlue flight from Chicago to JFK on Saturday. When the pilot made a not so very clear announcement during our final approach to JFK and said "we have our indication light on, we will make another announcement later" I did not like the tone of his voice, we aborted the landing and circled over the water for half hour. During that time I first moved by an emergency exit over the wings. When the pilot said "it will be a fast landing and don't panic when you see fire trucks and emergency vehicles outside" then I moved to the last row in the plane and sat with three pilots. From our seat we could see both wings were completely jammed and in closed position as we touched down.

My JetBlue boarding pass as I walk to the gate in Chicago's O"hare International Airport, on Saturday, November 21, 2009.

I am on a JetBlue flight on average at least once a week. The next day, last Sunday, I took another JetBlue flight to Ft Lauderdale, Florida to spend the Thanksgiving holiday at home.

I guess these things happen. The reason I decided to mention this incident after "The Aviation Herald" report and highlight my experience in this blog entry is to get the attention of the commercial airline industry.

Do this type of aircraft have a history of similar problems? I don't know. All I know is that after a scary emergency landing, I gave our pilot a virtual hug while he was cleaning the plane on row 6, and getting ready for the next take off.

(Small Photo: Sitting on the last row with three traveling pilots during our "fast" landing experience on JetBlue flight B6-904 from Chicago O'Hare, IL to New York JFK)

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About Fuat Kircaali
Fuat Kircaali is the founder and chairman of SYS-CON Media, Cloud Expo, Inc. and Ulitzer, Inc.

Kircaali came to the United States from Zurich University, Switzerland in 1984 while studying for his PhD, to design computer systems for SH-2G submarine hunter helicopters for the U.S. Navy. He later worked at IBM's IS&CG Headquarters as a market research analyst under Mike Armstrong's leadership, an IBM executive who later ran IBM Europe and AT&T; and Fuat was the Director of Information Systems for UWCC, reporting to CEO Steve Silk (later Hebrew National CEO), one of the top marketing geniuses of the past two decades.

Kircaali founded SYS-CON Media in 1994, a privately held tech media company with sales exceeding $100 million. SYS-CON Media was listed twice by Inc 500 and Deloitte and Touche as one of the fastest-growing companies in North America. Kircaali launched Ulitzer, Inc., a revolutionary "new media" start-up in mid 2009.

Fuat completed Bogazici University Business Administration program in 1982 with a Bachelor's Degree. He was one of 50 students accepted to the program out of over 1 million high school graduates that year.

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