Official: 10 hurt as landing gear collapses at NYC

         
The front landing gear of a flight arriving at New York's LaGuardia Airport collapsed Monday right after the plane touched down on the runway, officials said, sending the aircraft skidding before it came to a halt.                 

Ten passengers were treated at the scene, with six being taken to a hospital with minor injuries, said Thomas Bosco, Acting Director of Aviation for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the area airports. The six crew members were taken to another hospital for observation.                          

Dallas-based Southwest said there were 150 people on Flight 345 coming from Nashville, Tennessee, while the Port Authority said the total was 149.
                 
Bosco said the nose gear of the plane collapsed when it landed at 5:40 p.m., and "the aircraft skidded down the runway on its nose and then veered off and came to rest in the grass area."                  
Bosco said there was no advance warning of any possible problem before the landing.                       
The airport was temporarily closed, but one of two runways was operating shortly after 7 p.m., and Bosco said the Port Authority was hoping to have the airport fully open by Tuesday morning.                  

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating, as is the National Transportation Safety Board.                    

The incident came 16 days after Asiana Flight 214 crash-landed at San Francisco's international airport on July 6, killing two Chinese teenagers; a third was killed when a fire truck ran over her while responding to the crash, authorities said. Dozens of people were injured in that landing, which involved a Boeing 777 flying from South Korea.                      


AP