AA Makes Emergency Landing at LAX

LOS ANGELES (KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO)  -- An American Airlines jet carrying nearly 140 people has landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport after apparently blowing a tire during takeoff for Toronto.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says the Boeing 737 took off from the airport around 11 a.m. Tuesday. The pilot immediately reported the problem in its left main landing gear and asked to return to the airport.

The aircraft circled the airport to burn fuel for over 40 minutes. Emergency vehicles were on stand-by for an emergency landing. The landing was apparently without any incident.

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Los Angeles -- Passengers are being evacuated by inflatable chutes from an American Airlines jetliner after an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Firefighters were on hand Tuesday to help passengers as they slid down two emergency chutes aboard the plane. The airport reports smoke was detected in the cabin before the landing.

An American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii has made an emergency landing back at LAX because of a report of smoke in the cabin. Brian Humphrey with the L.A. City Fire Department says passengers got off the plane safely via inflatable emergency slides. This is the optimal situation where we don't have any smoke or fire," Humphrey says. "The flight attendants are being listened to by the passengers and they are following the instructions very carefully. American Airlines Flight 31 to Honolulu, carrying 188 passengers and six crew members, took off from LAX at 8:48 a.m., American spokesman Tim Smith said.A short time later, the pilot decided to turn back."They had some type of smoke or odor in the cabin,'' Smith said.The Boeing 757 returned about 57 minutes later and made a safe landing but ``the captain elected to declare an emergency and get everybody out of the aircraft via the slides,'' Smith said.