Chicago-bound flight forced to land

A Chicago-bound American Airlines plane made an emergency landing Saturday at Manchester Airport in Manchester, England, the third incident in two days involving Chicago flights and airline jets.

The landing, which tore the planes tires, was made at 2:10 p.m. after the plane's hydraulic warning light went off about an hour into the flight, Manchester Airport spokeswoman Zoe Ensor said.

The aircraft had to be towed off the runway, but the 195 passengers aboard the flight disembarked the plane normally, Ensor said. Operations at the airport were suspended for about two hours, causing the diversion 17 incoming flights.

Two separate incidents involving American Airlines jets with landing gear problems also were resolved safely Friday.

Airline spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan said a cluster of emergency landings isn't unusual given the size of the airline.

"Things can happen in the world's largest airline," Fagan said. "We have 2,025 flights a day."

On Friday, a flight carrying 136 passengers from Chicago to San Francisco turned around after pilots realized the landing gear hadn't fully retracted. The jetliner returned to O'Hare International Airport and landed without any trouble at 2:20 p.m., authorities said.

Another jetliner, with 131 travelers headed from West Palm Beach to Chicago, also was diverted when a cockpit alarm system indicated the gear was still deployed.

The airplane burned off fuel and flew by the air traffic control tower at Miami International Airport so controllers could check the gear was down before pilots made a safe descent at 2:45 p.m.

• Daily Herald news services and staff writer Marni Pyke contributed to this report.