ECU Football Charter Makes Emergency Landing; Game Missed

Dec. 24--A charter jet carrying East Carolina University football fans to the inaugural PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham had to make an emergency landing at the Kinston Jetport early Saturday shortly after takeoff.

The Boeing 727, with 177 on board, was in the air about 30 minutes when hydraulic system problems were discovered. It returned to the jetport -- where emergency response units were waiting -- and landed safely at the end of the jetport runway after its landing gear was successfully deployed.

"Everybody remained calm," said Lesli Casey, a passenger from Kinston. "Everyone just wanted to get to the game."

The Champion Air jet, registered to Grand Holdigs Inc. of Bloomington, Minn., touched down just before 9 a.m. After about 30 minutes, buses arrived to transport passengers the mile and a half from the end of the runway to the jetport terminal.

Jetport manager Don Howard said that when the hydraulic problems were reported an aircraft rescue alert was immediately issued summoning Kinston and Lenoir County fire departments and other emergency personnel to the scene. Although prepared for the worst, Howard said that once it was determined that the landing gear could be raised up and down the situation was not considered a "crisis."

"This really wasn't a real big thing. What happened today is really run of the mill in the airport business," Howard said. "Everyone here acted over cautiously to ensure the safety of the passengers on board."

Greg Smith, Kinston's director of public safety, said more than 75 emergency personnel responded to the alert He said that 12 to 15 emergency vehicles were directly located by the airport runway, with more units located to the east and west in case the jet would miss the runway.

"Obviously, the risk increases when there are 177 passengers and crew members on a plane with hydraulic problems," Smith said. "In this case, we were lucky and there was a safe landing."

"I wasn't too worried when they first said the hydraulics weren't working," said Mike Marley, a Pirate's fan from Wilmington, who with his wife Sherry had come to Kinston to take the chartered flight. "It wasn't until we were landing and I looked out the window and saw all the ambulances, police and emergency vehicles that I thought maybe our situation was worse than I had thought."

The charter package had been put together by Cary-based Premiere Sports Travel. The company is the official travel company for the ECU Pirate Club.

Saturday's charter package cost $585, and included round trip airfare, transportation to and from the game, a tailgate party and souvenirs. The flight would have returned early Saturday night.

Brian Wilder, Premiere president, said it was his decision to cancel the trip to the game after it was determined that another jet could not be found quickly enough to get fans to the game on time. He said for safety reasons he ruled out using the original jet.

Wilder said that all of the passengers will get their money back, except for the cost of the game ticket. The ticket, he said, was not included in his company's package.

Wilder added that customer safety and service were priorities in his decision.

"I've never been on a plane that had to turn back," said Wilder, who was a passenger on the flight. "I know there are some fans who are disappointed that we didn't get to see the game, but canceling the trip was the best thing to do.

"This was a very unusual situation," he added. Champion is a great airline and we have never had a problem with them."

Copyright (c) 2006, The Free Press, Kinston, N.C.

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