United Airlines Flight Lands Safely After Two Attempted Landings, Ceiling Panels Fall Mid-Air

A United Airlines flight with 214 passengers aboard landed safety in New Jersey on Tuesday after the pilot aborted one landing attempt while several panels inside the aircraft fell to the floor.

United Airlines flight 557, en route from Houston to Newark, was preparing to land in New Jersey on Tuesday when the pilot canceled two landing attempts, causing the plane to bounce up and down on the runway, NBC New York reports (WARNING: Loud, obnoxious auto-play video at link).

Passengers say the first attempted landing caused the plane to skip along the runway before the pilot lifted it back into the air.

A short time later, the pilot tried to land again, but this time the aircraft came down more violently before returning to the sky, one passenger recalls.

“The pilot jerked the plane up to cancel the landing entirely,” the passenger said.

The second attempted landing was rough enough to cause several ceiling panels to fall to the aisle way below. Video of the incident shows what appears to be mechanical boxes and other parts of the plane.

“One of the panels fell right next to my seatmate and I,” the passenger tells NBC New York, noting that travelers helped to hold the panels from moving down the aisle.

The plane circled Newark airport for approximately 30 minutes before finally landing successfully.

United Airlines confirmed to NBC New York that no one was injured in the incident and that the aircraft was taken out of service to be evaluated and repaired.

Since the NBC video is an auto-play disaster that won’t properly embed, here’s ABC’s version:

Ceiling Panels Collapse as Plane Landing at Newark Bounces on Runway, Then Takes Off Again: Passenger [NBC New York]

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