Newark Liberty International Airport was temporarily shut down on Wednesday due to an aircraft emergency involving a JetBlue flight, CNN reported, adding that the passengers were forced to evacuate onto the tarmac.
"We're just going to exit the runway and have fire/rescue make sure the engine, number one engine, is OK," a pilot told air traffic controllers as per the website LiveATC.net.
The JetBlue flight 543 took off around 5:30pm (local time) and was headed to West Palm Beach, Florida. It experienced engine trouble and returned to the Newark airport after 17 minutes.
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All the passengers evacuated the aircraft using emergency slides when the flight landed. In some unverified videos, they were spotted walking away from the aircraft that can be seen with the slides deployed.
"The Airbus A320 was headed to Palm Beach International Airport in Florida and the crew reported an engine issue shortly after departing," the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.
"After JetBlue Flight 543 safely returned to Newark Liberty International Airport and exited the runway, the crew reported smoke in the cockpit and evacuated passengers via slides."
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The airport was reportedly closed from approximately 6:00 pm ET to 11:00 pm ET, causing widespread cancellations, diversions and delays. The airport has also issued an advisory to all the passengers, whose flights were affected by the incident.
"Safety is JetBlue's top priority," the airline said in a statement. "We are focused on supporting our customers and crewmembers and will work closely with the appropriate federal authorities to investigate what occurred."
