Smokey emergency landing suspends Newark Airport flights

NEWARK — An emergency landing forced the closure of the runways at Newark Liberty International Airport on Saturday morning.

All runways were closed just after 9 a.m. and no flights were getting in or out, according to a message from the Port Authority on the airport's Twitter account, which said flights resumed about 9:45 a.m.

Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman told New Jersey 101.5 that an Air Transat flight from Canada to Florida radioed the Newark tower to request an emergency landing due to smoke in the Boeing 737.

The airline in a message on its Twitter account said it was flight 492 from Montreal to Fort Lauderdale which said there was smoke in the plane's cargo hold.

The plane landed safely and the 189 passengers exited through the plane's chutes. Two people suffered minor injuries not related to the smoke on the plane, according to Coleman.

Coleman said crews were had to get the plane off the runway so the runways could be reopened and flights could resume.

Coleman advised passengers to check with their airlines about the status of their flight.

Note: The Port Authority initially said 89 passengers were on board. They later corrected the number to 189.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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