Passengers grateful Alaska Airlines jet landed safely in Modesto

Aaron Needles was preparing himself for the worst Sunday morning, when the flight crew announced his Alaska Airlines flight from Sacramento to San Diego would have to make an emergency landing at because of a malfunction on the plane.

“Is this an airport landing or a ground landing?” Needles said he asked himself as flight attendants instructed passengers on how to brace for landing. “Basically this could be it. I didn’t know if this was landing in a field somewhere.”

Needles first became aware the plane was being rerouted when he noticed the jet was turning. He realized by watching the sunrise along the horizon that the flight was now heading north.

He didn’t know what type of plane malfunction had occurred. For a short time, Needles went over some of the worst scenarios in his head.

“So, I started praying. I prayed for everyone, the other people on the plane,” said Needles, a computer software consultant from Davis. “We may not survive, that was the feeling I had.”

Shortly after, the Alaska Airlines pilot informed the 58 passengers onboard that their flight to San Diego was being diverted to the Modesto Airport.

“Everyone clapped when the plane came to a stop,” Needles said.

Waiting for the plane on the runway were several fire engines and trucks, along with ambulances as a precaution.

The commercial airliner landed safely at the Modesto Airport about 6:50 a.m. Sunday, and there were no injuries reported. On the plane were 62 people, including the flight crew and the passengers.

Firefighters from Modesto, Ceres and the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District were called to the airport at 6:38 a.m. on a report of an inbound plane with fire in its cargo area, according to the Modesto Fire Department. Five engines, two trucks and two airport crash rigs waited for the plane to land on the runway.

FIRE ALARM

The SkyWest flight operating as Alaska Airlines was forced to land in Modesto after a fire alarm was activated on the plane. No smoke or fire was visible on the outside of the plane when it landed, fire officials said.

Firefighters checked the plane’s interior with thermal imaging cameras and spotted a heat signal. Authorities inspected the plane’s cargo area while the jet sat on the runway and found no apparent signs of a fire. The jet was then moved to the terminal, where all passengers got off the plane.

“It was a safe landing,” said Modesto Airport Manager Mark Germanowski. “Then, it became a customer service issue.”

He said a majority of the stranded passengers arranged their own road transportation back to Sacramento or continued on to San Diego. Some rented cars at the Modesto terminal.

About a dozen of the passengers waited at the Modesto Airport for a chartered bus to drive them back to the Sacramento International Airport. The passengers waited patiently in the Modesto terminal, some of them making calls to arrange new travel plans.

Germanowski said the Alaska Airlines pilot ordered sandwiches for the waiting passengers, and flight attendants provided drinks for them. The bus arrived in Modesto about 11 a.m. and took the remaining passengers back to Sacramento.

NEW JET

He said the Alaska Airlines flight crew chose to land in Modesto because it was the nearest airport that was large enough for a plane its size. It’s a 76-seat Embraer E175 Regional Jet.

The jet remained in Modesto until a maintenance crew from Fresno arrived and examined the plane. By Sunday afternoon, the jet had left the Modesto Airport.

William Cabullo of Stockton was one of the passengers who boarded the bus back to Sacramento. He was still hopeful he wouldn’t have to cancel his trip to Houston, where he’s scheduled to take a board exam to become a licensed physical therapist.

Cabullo had fallen asleep shortly after takeoff, and he woke up to the sound of flight attendants going over the safety precautions. “I didn’t know what was happening until toward the end,” he said.

Needles said everyone on the plane, including the flight crew, handled themselves well and remained calm throughout. While waiting in Modesto, he had already booked a flight with another airline. His trip was far from over.

After landing in San Diego, Needles was supposed to board a connecting flight to Boston. He was scheduled to attend a seminar there Monday morning. He was still planning on being on time for the seminar, but he would have to do it with little sleep overnight.

“I’m grateful that we came down safely,” Needles said shortly before boarding the bus back to Sacramento. “You remember who you love, and you think about them.”

This story was originally published April 9, 2017 at 1:10 PM with the headline "Passengers grateful Alaska Airlines jet landed safely in Modesto."