Metro

Emergency landing at Newark International Airport

A United Airlines jet was forced to make an emergency landing at Newark Airport tonight after developing nose-gear trouble in the air, authorities said.

The airport shut down, and fire and other rescue crews raced to the runway as the Brazilian-made Embraer 170 plane landed and screeched to a halt missing its front wheels, officials said.

Crews immediately hosed off the nose of the plane with foam, and the 67 passengers and four crew members were evacuated by inflatable chutes. No one was injured.

The United Express shuttle — Flt. 5124 out of Atlanta — had developed problems shortly before landing at 6:20 p.m., said Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman.

“On approach, the flight crew was not able to confirm that the nose gear had deployed correctly,” a Shuttle America spokesman said.

“After receiving confirmation from Newark Air Traffic Control that the nose gear was not down, the crew declared an emergency, prepared the cabin and safely landed. All customers and crew were safely bussed to the terminal.”

Within the hour, at least two runways were already reopened, officials said.

With Newscore