MELVILLE, N.Y. _ An American Airlines plane with 156 passengers made an emergency landing Thursday morning at John F. Kennedy International Airport just 23 minutes after leaving LaGuardia Airport because crew reported an issue with one of two engines, an airline spokesman said.
The Boeing 737 was bound for Orlando, Fla.
The airline said the crew chose to divert "out of an abundance of caution," and that preliminary indications were that the engine had no visible damage.
A Port Authority spokesman, Rudy King, said the plane landed "without incident."
American spokesman Ross Feinstein said the aircraft's indicator light communicated an error or fault message to the crew relating to the engine. Feinstein said mechanics were trying to determine the cause of this issue.
American said all 156 passengers and the crew of six were being moved to a different aircraft.
"We never want to disrupt our customers' travel plans," the emailed statement from American said, adding, "and we are sorry for the trouble this caused."
It was just last month that a Southwest Airlines 737, bound from LaGuardia to Dallas, Texas, was forced to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia after an engine exploded 20 minutes into its flight, leaving one passenger dead.
