On 2 Landing Gear and a Prayer

A Southwest Airlines flight carrying 132 people from Las Vegas to Burbank was forced to make an emergency landing in Ontario on Tuesday afternoon, dragging one engine to a screeching halt on two-thirds of the plane’s landing gear as passengers prayed, wept and then cheered their safe arrival.

“It just felt so scary that you can’t describe it,” said passenger Steve Mouradian, 35, of Pasadena. “You’re thinking, I just know this plane is going to blow up.”

No one aboard was injured, although one passenger with a history of heart problems was taken to a nearby hospital, airline officials said.

With the aircraft’s left landing gear disabled, officials on the ground and in the air had prepared for a fiery crash landing.

Ontario International Airport was closed and ambulances and fire engines were posted on the runway. In the air, the 127 passengers aboard Flight 1767 obeyed flight attendants’ orders to remove jewelry, eyeglasses and shoes that could fly loose and assumed positions to prepare for the impact of a crash, heads braced on their crossed arms resting against the seats in front of them, witnesses said.

As it turned out, the feared crash did not materialize. The plane’s captain, who has flown for Southwest for eight years, successfully brought the plane down on its right and front landing gear.

“Everyone was clapping and shouting,” said passenger Raymond Raffooly, 35 of Glendale.

Despite the smooth landing, the passengers were quickly evacuated on an emergency slide as firefighters doused the plane--which came to rest tilted to the rear, nose-up--with flame-retardant chemicals as a precaution.

No flames broke out, although the aircraft’s left engine dragged along the runway.

The Boeing 737-3H4 left Las Vegas at 1 p.m. and was scheduled to arrive at Burbank Airport an hour later. The trouble began about 15 minutes before landing when the left landing gear stuck and could not be dislodged, said Linda Rutherford, an airline spokeswoman. The plane was rerouted to Ontario, which has longer runways and fewer buildings.

The jetliner flew by the Ontario control tower low enough for air traffic controllers to get a glimpse of the disabled landing gear. While over Burbank, en route to Ontario, and at the second airport, the plane’s crew made several attempts to force down the jammed landing gear. The efforts resembled a stunt pilot’s daredevil aerobatics and further unnerved already frightened passengers.

One of the maneuvers, called a “touch and go,” involved swooping above the runway and gently bouncing the plane’s working landing gear against the pavement in the hopes that the broken element “would pop into place,” Rutherford said.

“I was hysterical . . . like a crazy person,” Vickie Ackers, 33, of North Hollywood said as she got off the bus the airlines used to ferry passengers from Ontario to Burbank. Another passenger, Donna Villacorta, 22, of Las Vegas, held Ackers’ hand and tried to calm her.

“She started panicking and I just felt it was going to be OK,” Villacorta said.

Southwest’s Rutherford said the airline did not yet know why the landing gear malfunctioned. The incident is the first of its kind in Southwest’s 25-year history, she said. The airline, which recently won an industry award for safety and quality, has never had a fatal accident, she said.

Times staff writer Lisa Leff contributed to this story.