JetBlue airliner returns to Southern California airport after engine problem; no injuries

LONG BEACH, Calif. – A JetBlue airliner experienced engine problems and returned to the Long Beach Airport on Thursday after a short flight that ended with passengers evacuating onto the runway using the plane’s emergency slides.

None of the 142 passengers and five crew members was injured during the evacuation, though medical personnel tended to three passengers at the scene and one other was taken to a hospital for observation, airport spokeswoman Cassie Perez-Harmison said.

Flight 1416 was bound for Austin, Texas, when the crew declared an emergency after an “overheat warning” for one of its two engines, she said.

The pilot activated a fire-suppression system within the engine, but it was not immediately known whether there was a fire, JetBlue spokesman Anders Lindstrom said. Long Beach fire personnel told reporters they saw no sign of flames though they did not look inside the engine.

According to the tracking website FlightAware, the Airbus A320 took off at 9:17 a.m. and landed at 9:30 a.m.

The airport’s main runway was closed for about two hours due to the evacuation. Eventually the plane was towed to a hangar for further investigation, and air traffic resumed.

Long Beach is on the south Los Angeles County coast.