American Eagle Bombardier CRJ900 Emergency Alert Prompts Return To Charlotte Douglas International Airport

A Bombardier CRJ900 operating an American Airlines-branded regional flight landed safely at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) on Monday due to an emergency alert. Once the plane exited the runway, passengers evacuated onto the taxiway.

The incident happened just before 10:00, during the airport’s busy operating hours. However, the emergency landing did not seem to impact any other departing or arriving flights.

Details about the incident

Charlotte local ABC affiliate WSOC first reported the incident and suggests the flight has since been canceled; however, Simple Flying has not yet independently verified the development. The aircraft, registered as N633NN, is operated by PSA Airlines – one of American’s wholly-owned subsidiaries under the American Eagle brand – as OH5304.

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According to data from FlightAware, the flight was bound for Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA) and pushed back from gate E14A on time at 09:06. The regional jet taxied to Runway 36C, where it departed about 20 minutes later at 09:27. Taking off to the north, the aircraft quickly climbed in altitude and turned northwest following the standard westerly takeoff path from CLT. However, after only around two minutes in the air, the plane halted its ascent at 4,800 feet.

Photo: Flightradar24

It turned west and remained at the altitude, traveling at about 219 knots before turning southwest. The aircraft maintained its altitude for the next several minutes and reduced its speed briefly before regaining its speed to about 231 knots. After seven minutes of being airborne, flight data shows the plane turning back east toward CLT. It continued to fly at 4,800 feet and passed the airport to the south before turning south about eight minutes later.

At that point, the CRJ900 began to descend as it continued to fly in the opposite direction of CLT. About 18 minutes after takeoff, it was situated at 3,800 feet and made a U-turn to line up for its final approach. The aircraft landed safely on Runway 36R at 09:51 – 24 minutes after its departure.

Evacuating the aircraft

It is unclear exactly when the emergency alert was signaled during the flight. Photos from WSOC’s Chopper 9 show the plane resting on the adjacent taxiway with its flaps still deployed. As a part of standard protocol, emergency responders were dispatched to the scene.

While the number of passengers onboard the flight remains unknown, they can be seen standing off to the side of the aircraft and then later boarding a bus to return back to the terminal.

Photo: WSOC

Paramedics reportedly said no passengers were treated for injuries. Simple Flying contacted American for a statement regarding the matter, but a representative could not be immediately reached.

About the plane

According to ch-aviation, N633NN is an eight-year-old CRJ900. It was delivered new to Mesa Airlines in August 2015 and was just recently transferred over to PSA Airlines in December of last year. It has a capacity of 76 passengers in a two-class configuration: 12 first class seats and 64 main cabin seats.

Photo: BravoKiloPhoto | Shutterstock

The aircraft remains on the ground at CLT. Data from Flightradar24 indicates that American deployed a replacement aircraft to continue the flight. N609NN, another CRJ900, departed from CLT at 12:17, resulting in a delay of about three hours. OH5304 is scheduled as a Chattanooga turn, meaning the next portion of the flight returns to CLT later in the day.

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