A JetBlue airliner heading to Fort Lauderdale last night returned to Newark Liberty International Airport after about 10 minutes in the air because the cockpit indicator light went on, according to spokesmen for the airline and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.
A JetBlue spokesman likened the indicator light to the "check engine" light in many cars. He said the decision to return to Newark shortly after 10 p.m. was made "as a precaution."
"The plane returned to the airport and everyone was moved to another plane," Sebastian White, a JetBlue spokesman, said last night.
The plane, with 126 passengers plus crew members, was scheduled to leave at 8:55 p.m. Passengers were put on a second plane that departed at 11:37 p.m., according to the JetBlue Web site.
White said passengers would receive free one-way vouchers to compensate them for the inconvenience. He said the airline does not know why the indicator light came on, but maintenance crews were examining the plane in Newark last night.
Tony Ciavolella, a Port Authority spokesman, said standard operating procedures require that at least one emergency vehicle respond to the scene when there is any issue with a plane coming in for a landing. He did not know exactly how many crews responded last night.
White said he was not aware that any emergency vehicles were nearby to monitor the landing of the plane.
Copyright 2005 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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