LONGVIEW, Texas (KETK) – An American Airlines flight bound for DFW International Airport made an unexpected landing at East Texas Regional Airport in Longview due to a “possible mechanical issue,” according to a statement from the airline.
Flight 4210 was scheduled to fly from Alexandria, Louisiana, and was supposed to land in Dallas around noon. At some point during the flight, the plane squawked “7700”, the standard code for declaring an emergency.
It’s unclear when the code was sent out, but the plane continued to fly toward Dallas before turning around west of Henderson. The plane then made a landing at East Texas Regional Airport in Longview just before 11:30 a.m., according to the plane tracking site FlightAware.
American Airlines said that the plane landed safely and was able to taxi to the gate under it’s own power. The specific mechanical problem is still unknown.
The airline said that a replacement plane will be sent to Longview to pick up the passengers and are hoping to take off at 2:15 p.m.
The plane is an Embraer ERJ-145 and can seat up to 50 passengers. It is used for short, domestic flights. American Airlines said the plane was full at the time of the incident.
FlightAware shows that it made two previous flights on Thursday morning before the diversion:
- Abilene to Dallas
- Dallas to Alexandria
The full statement is below:
American Eagle flight 4210 with service from Alexandria, LA (AEX) to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) diverted to Longview, TX (GGG) due to a possible mechanical issue. The flight landed safely and taxied to the gate under its own power. Our maintenance team is evaluating the aircraft and we are working to reaccommodate our customers on a replacement aircraft. We never want to disrupt our customers’ travel plans and our team is working to get them to Dallas/Fort Worth as soon as possible.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
