TWA jet makes emergency landing after nose landing gear fails to deploy

Friday, August 10th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MASCOUTAH, Ill. (AP) _ A TWA jetliner made an emergency landing without its nose landing gear Thursday night. The airline said none of the 71 passengers and five crew were injured.

Flight 519 from Nashville, Tenn., to St. Louis diverted from Lambert Airport to MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah, 25 miles to the east, where firefighters covered the runway with foam to prevent fire.

``I think there were a number of people on the plane that expected to die,'' said passenger Bob Burdorff, an engineer from Wichita, Kan., who was heading home from Nashville.

``I have to compliment the pilot'' on the landing, Burdorff said.

TWA spokeswoman Julia Bishop-Cross said one passenger with a heart condition was taken to a hospital for observation.

The plane had been earlier diverted to Springfield, Ill., because of storms in the St. Louis area.

Bishop-Cross said there was ``not a whole lot of damage'' to the plane. Passengers exited on inflatable slides and were taken to St. Louis by bus.

Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration determined a series of emergency landings involving TWA aircraft were coincidence.

The FAA reviewed the airline's maintenance procedures after four TWA MD-80s made emergency landings in a six-day period in July.