With all of the negative press at times about Airlines and pilot’s training it is great to see a Crew respond to their training and save the day. The Flight Crew who safely guided their stricken airliner to a safe landing at New York’s JFK Airport were Captain Jack Conroyd and ATP Graduate and ATP Regional Jet Program Instructor First Officer Larkin Newby.
The drama began at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday evening, September 25, 2010. A CRJ-900 aircraft (registration N133EV) operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) landed with its right main landing gear stuck in the retracted position. ASA Flight 4951 -- also listed as Delta Connection Flight 4951 -- had been en route from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) to Westchester County (HPN), but diverted to JFK after the crew were unable to lower the right main gear while on approach to HPN.
The aircraft landed on JFK's runway 31R and came to a stop with its right wing scraping the surface. The aircraft was evacuated on the runway.To the credit of the pilots and flight attendants, no one among the four crew and 60 passengers on board was injured.
Conroyd and his First Officer Larkin Newby were identified as the pilots of the Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 4951 who executed an emergency crash landing on a JFK runway Saturday night, a senior Port Authority told ABC News.
Conroyd and crew declined to discuss their heroics when reached by ABC News today, and indicated any comments would have to wait until an investigation of what happened is concluded.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines is "extremely proud of the crew's actions," ASA spokesman Jerek Deem said.
The spokesman said its own internal investigation team was working with the National Transportation Safety Board.
The crew is in line to become the most celebrated pilots since Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and crew landed their crippled jetliner on the Hudson River in January 2009.
