JetBlue plane with gear trouble lands safely at LAX

A JetBlue airliner with landing gear problems landed safely at Los Angeles International airport Wednesday evening after circling the area for several hours to burn off fuel.

After burning off the fuel to lighten the plane and reduce the danger from a possible fire, the pilots landed the Airbus A-320 by holding the nose of the aircraft off the runway as long as possible.

The main gear touched the runway first, then the front gear -- which had been stuck sideways -- finally came down and the nose wheel tires burned up as the front gear skidded and dragged along the runway.

JetBlue Flight 292 left Burbank's Bob Hope Airport with 140 passengers on a flight to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Passengers watched their own life-and-death drama unfolding on live television as satellite TV sets aboard the plane were tuned to news broadcasts. The sets were turned off a few minutes before landing in Los Angeles.

Zachary Mascoon of New York said it was "surreal" to watch his plane's fate being discussed on live TV while it was in the air.

When they tried to retract the gear shortly after takeoff from Burbank, the pilots discovered the plane's front wheels were turned sideways and stuck.

The plane first circled the Long Beach Airport, about 50 kilometres south of Burbank, then was cleared to land at Los Angeles which has longer runways and more fire rescue equipment and personnel.

After the safe emergency landing, some passengers were to take a specially arranged JetBlue to New York, others were put up in hotels and given reservations for Thursday flights. Some went home.

An Airbus spokeswoman at the manufacturer's headquarters in France, said the A320 was designed to be able to land with front wheel problems.

JetBlue is five-year-old U.S. low-fare airline based in Forest Hills, N.Y. It operates a fleet of 81 A320s.