WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn — An Avelo Airlines flight from West Palm Beach to Tweed New Haven Airport was diverted and landed at Bradley International Airport Wednesday afternoon.
The plane, a Boeing 737, was scheduled to land in New Haven at 1:20 p.m. the flight number is XP 346.
Officials with Connecticut Airport Authority said in a statement, "We can confirm that an Avelo Airlines aircraft diverted to Bradley International Airport after reporting an issue. The aircraft landed safely at approximately 1:50 p.m. and there was no impact to airport operations. We would defer to Avelo Airlines for any additional information."
Jim Olson, Head of Communication for Avelo Airlines said in a statement:
Avelo Airlines Flight 346 which departed West Palm Beach (PBI) for Tweed-New Haven Airport diverted to Hartford’s Bradley International Airport (BDL) this afternoon. A potential issue was identified with one of the aircraft’s hydraulic systems. As a precaution, the flight diverted to BDL where it landed without incident. The Boeing 737-800 operating this flight has redundant hydraulic systems, so safety was never an issue.
Customers have deplaned at BDL while maintenance technicians review the aircraft. We apologize to our Customers for the inconvenience and we are working quickly to get them back on their way to New Haven. There were 176 Customers and six Crewmembers aboard the flight.
The FAA said they will investigate.
Wednesday's Avelo diversion to Bradley from Tweed wasn't the only one in the past 24 hours. An Air France Boeing 777 was diverted to BDL Tuesday afternoon. It was originally scheduled to land at Boston after coming in from Paris/CDG but went to Bradley for several hours. Air France said in a statement:
"AF334 from Paris-CDG to Boston diverted to Hartford's Bradley Airport (BDL) due to runway temporarily closed in BOS and second runway not accessible because of the mass and weight of our aircraft. Our aircraft needed refueling so had to divert to BDL."
The aircraft flew back to Logan and made a normal landing at 7:09 p.m.
In December, an Avelo airplane's wheel at Tweed-New Haven Airport slid off the taxiway.
Officials said while taxiing out for departure to Palm Beach International Airport, Avelo Airlines Flight 345 conducted a tight turn on a taxiway sliding a wheel onto the adjacent grassy area. A gear pin was left inserted after pushback, which prevented the gear from retracting after departure from New Haven causing diversion to BDL.
There were 166 passengers and six crewmembers aboard the airplane and nobody was injured. All the passengers were safely taken back to the terminal.
This is a developing story
Doug Stewart is the Senior Digital Content Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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