Operations at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) were temporarily halted on Wednesday after a JetBlue flight was forced to return to the airport and conduct an emergency evacuation. The JetBlue service to West Palm Beach landed back in Newark after reporting an engine issue and smoke filling the cabin. 

Emergency services surrounded the Airbus A320 after its hasty landing, with passengers evacuating the plane using its emergency slides. Despite transporting one person to a hospital, the incident did not injure the remaining passengers or crew.

As per data from Flightradar24, the flight departed Newark at 05:34 PM local time en route to West Palm Beach (PBI) but would remain in the air for just over 15 minutes before landing back in Newark. After taking off, the Airbus A320-200 immediately turned around and prepared to return to Newark after pilots encountered a problem with its engine number one. Air traffic control (ATC) recordings posted by the website LiveATC.net reveal one of the pilots reporting "smoke in the back" before calling for an evacuation. 

According to the airline, the flight returned after "a reported engine issue and smoke in the cabin," landing in Newark just after 05:50 PM. The flight crew made the decision to perform an emergency evacuation on the taxiway, with passengers and crew exiting the plane via its emergency slides.

There were a total of 122 passengers onboard, with one person transported to a local hospital citing chest pains. A JetBlue spokesperson shared the following statement: "The aircraft landed safely, and customers and crewmembers evacuated using the aircraft’s slides. Safety is JetBlue’s top priority. We are focused on supporting our customers and crewmembers and will work closely with the appropriate federal authorities to investigate what occurred."

Operations at EWR were temporarily halted while the JetBlue aircraft evacuated, causing significant disruption to the airport's schedule. As per a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) statement, the agency paused some arrivals to the airport while the JetBlue evacuation was being handled, with normal operations resuming at around 07:00 PM.

Although the ground stop lasted just over an hour, it had a considerable knock-on effect on flights to and from the airport. Looking at data from FlightAware, EWR was the most delayed airport in the United States on Wednesday, registering almost 400 flight delays (inbound and outbound). The FAA warned travelers to expect delays when flying to and from Newark, adding that it is investigating the incident.

While Newark has a total of three runways, whenever an aircraft deploys its emergency slides on a runway or taxiway, this will initiate a shutdown of operations to ensure the safety of those evacuating the plane. Newark's layout is highly compact, featuring two primary parallel runways (4L/22R and 4R/22L), along with a shorter, intersecting third runway (11/29), making it more susceptible to full shutdowns during incidents like this.

Source: Simple Flying