United flight diverted to Wichita lands safely

A passenger plane that was diverted to Wichita because of landing gear issues landed safely Wednesday night, Airport Police and Fire Capt. Randy Currie said.

The plane, United Airlines Flight 4912, departed from Denver International Airport at 6:56 p.m. and landed at Wichita’s Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport at 9:06 p.m. Wednesday.

The plane, which was carrying 67 passengers, was heading to Kansas City International Airport before it was diverted, according to FlightAware. The plane was operated by Republic Airlines, a regional airline that operates under the United Express name.

Currie said the plane experienced landing gear issues, prompting the request to divert.

“There’s lights that come on indicating they are down, and they weren’t getting the green light,” he said.

Wichita police, fire and emergency medical services units were on the scene before the plane landed, he said, which is standard procedure for an emergency situation.

“We have ambulances standing by in case it does crash,” Currie said. “Fortunately, there was not an issue.”

The flight originally attempted to divert to Garden City Regional Airport before it came to Wichita, according to FlightAware.

United Airlines 4912 is a twin-turboprop plane, according to FlightAware. The airplane was built by Bombardier Aerospace, Currie said.

United offered to put up the 67 passengers in a hotel overnight and also used two buses Wednesday night to shuttle about 30 passengers to Kansas City, Currie said. Some others rented cars to reach their destination, he said.

“Don’t ask me why they landed here instead of Kansas City,” he said of the flight. “It’s not that much further – I have no idea why they decided that.”

Scott Thien, a representative of Republic Airlines, said that the Bombardier Q-400 carrying 67 passengers and a crew of four landed safely, “and all aboard deplaned normally at the gate.”

“United Airlines customer service is working to accommodate passengers on another flight,” he said Wednesday night. “Maintenance is investigating the issue.”

In June, United Airlines Flight 1463 was diverted to Wichita following a faulty in-flight emergency slide inflation.

This story was originally published February 25, 2015 at 10:07 PM with the headline "United flight diverted to Wichita lands safely."