USAir Flight Out of John Wayne Makes Emergency Landing at LAX

A USAir flight en route from John Wayne Airport to Sacramento made an emergency landing Friday evening at Los Angeles International Airport when its flaps became stuck on takeoff, a company spokesman said.

Dave Shipley, a USAir spokesman in Washington, said Flight 1599, with 85 passengers aboard, circled over Santa Catalina Island for 40 minutes to use up excess fuel before making the emergency landing.

“We called it an emergency landing, but it was really a non-event. No one was hurt,” he said.

Shipley said that because the flaps were stuck at an eight-degree angle, the aircraft needed a longer runway to make a “normal and safe landing.” The runway at LAX is 12,000 feet long, he said.

Pilot Rick Libby said the plane was forced to land at a speed of 175 knots, 35 knots more than the normal landing speed.

The flight, which had left John Wayne Airport at 5:20 p.m., landed in Los Angeles at 6:28 p.m. The passengers were then boarded on another aircraft to continue the flight to Sacramento.