New York's LaGuardia airport fully reopened on Tuesday morning, a day after a landing gear collapse on a Southwest Airlines aircraft caused a crash landing which shut down both runways.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the crash, which an official said occurred without warning.
Ten passengers were treated at the scene, and six were taken to a hospital with minor injuries. The six Southwest Airlines crew members were taken to another hospital for observation.
"The aircraft landed on runway four and the landing gear collapsed, the nose wheel collapsed," said Thomas Bosco, acting director of aviation for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the area airports.
"The aircraft skidded down the runway on its nose and then veered off and came to rest in the grass area," he said.
Southwest Airlines said 150 people were on the aeroplane, a Boeing 737, while the Port Authority said the total was 149. A spokeswoman for the airline said the plane had been inspected on 18 July.
Bosco said the collapse closed the airport for more than an hour. A Port Authority spokesman said both of the airport's runways were back in use by Tuesday morning. The plane was being moved to a hangar.
Television images showed emergency vehicles surrounding the aircraft after the crash landing. An emergency slide was deployed at the rear of the aircraft, and images showed passengers using it to leave the plane.
Those on the aircraft heard an announcement saying "something was wrong with a tire," passenger Anniebell Hanna, 43, told the Associated Press. She was travelling to New York with family members, she said.
When the plane landed, "I hit my head against the seat in front of me," Hanna said. "I hit hard."
Hanna, a sergeant in the South Carolina National Guard, said she was among the first to get off the plane and could smell something burning when she got down to the tarmac. The passengers were put on a bus and taken to the terminal, she said.
NTSB spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said the agency "will gather more information on the incident from the FAA and the operator and assess the damage to the airplane. From there, decisions will be made regarding any further investigative activity from the NTSB."
Boeing and United Technologies – which made the plane's landing gear – said their companies would also investigate.
Earlier this month a Boeing 777 operated by Asiana Airlines crashed in San Francisco. Three people were killed and more than 150 injured.
