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Passenger jet reports possible fire, makes emergency landing at Newark Liberty Airport

NEWARK, N.J. — An emergency landing at Newark Liberty Airport closed the airport’s runways for a little over an hour on Saturday morning. The plane landed...
Emergency landing

NEWARK, N.J. — An emergency landing at Newark Liberty Airport closed the airport’s runways for a little over an hour on Saturday morning. The plane landed safely with 189 passengers on board, and no serious injuries were reported.

In a Tweet, the FAA said Air Transat Flight 942, a Boeing 737  was en route from Montreal to Fort Lauderdale, Florida when it reported a possible fire in the cargo hold and diverted the flight to Newark Liberty International Airport at about 8:30 a.m., the FAA said in a tweet.

The aircraft landed on Runway 4 and remained on the runway while airport firefighters responded, the FAA said. Passengers were evacuated by emergency slides.

The airport tweeted again about 9:45, saying flights had resumed, and advising travelers to contact their airlines for flight status.

Two of the 189 passengers reported minor injuries, neither related to smoke, and one was taken to a hospital to be examined, said Steve Coleman, deputy director of media relations at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. No fire was found and the cause of the smoke remains under investigation, he said.

“Our 189 passengers’ safety is our top priority and they were evacuated promptly upon landing,” said Debbie Cabana, Air Transat marketing director. Another aircraft was to be sent to Newark to operate the flight to Fort Lauderdale, she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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