Home Roanoke | United Airlines flight experiences crash landing, 53 people on board
State/U.S. News

Roanoke | United Airlines flight experiences crash landing, 53 people on board

Crystal Graham
roanoke airport sign 581 220 bristol interstate 81 exit 143
(© Rosemarie Mosteller – stock.adobe.com)

A United Airlines flight with 53 people on board crash landed at the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport in Roanoke last night.

There were no injuries reported.

According to Virginia State Police, the crash landing occurred at 9:18 p.m. when an Embraer EMB-145XR overshot the landing at the Roanoke airport.

The plane did not have enough runway after touching down and ran off the end of the roadway.

The pilot did not provide enough braking distance to bring the plane to a stop and continued off the end of the paved runway onto the Engineered Materials Arresting System, or EMAS. The EMAS is a safety feature located at the end of a runway that is designed to stop an aircraft that has overrun, undershot or veered off the runway.

There were 53 passengers and crew on the aircraft.

The Federal Aviation Administration was notified and will investigate the cause of the incident.

The crash remains under investigation.

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Crystal Graham

Crystal Graham

Crystal Abbe Graham is a reporter and ad manager for Augusta Free Press. A 1999 graduate of Virginia Tech, she has worked for 25 years as a reporter and editor for several Virginia publications, written a book, and garnered more than a dozen Virginia Press Association awards for writing and graphic design. She was the co-host of "Viewpoints," a weekly TV news show, and co-host of "Virginia Tonight," a nightly TV news show, both broadcast on PBS. Her work on "Virginia Tonight" earned her a national Telly award for excellence in television. You can reach her at [email protected]