Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 6, 1994 TAG: 9405070016
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
A USAir plane landed on its belly and back wheels Sunday in Charlotte, N.C.; another returned after takeoff Monday to Boston when smoke appeared in the cockpit; and the third plane returned after takeoff Tuesday to Boston with engine problems.
``They were three different airplanes,'' said David Shipley, a spokesman for the Arlington-based airline. ``They were totally unrelated.''
Such landings are commonplace, he said.
``To the general public, it may seem very serious, but there's no direct threat to the safety of the passengers and crew,'' Shipley said.
Shipley said USAir has about 2,500 flights daily.
The National Transportation Safety Board's Atlanta office is investigating the first and most serious incident, said Alan Pollock, an agency spokesman. ``In the other two, there were no evacuations and no injuries,'' he said.
``These things are not uncommon,'' Pollock said. ``If you had three 737s with engine failures, you'd have a lot of people looking really close.''
Arthur Wolk, a Philadelphia lawyer who represents air crash victims, said the number of incidents over the short span of time was unusual, but ``I don't see any one of those as giving any kind of signal that you need to be worried.''
``You always find more of those kinds of problems on the carriers that do the most takeoffs and landings - and USAir does lots of takeoffs, lots of landings,'' Wolk said.
by CNB