Emergency responders encompass a JetBlue airplane at Newark Liberty International Airport on February 18, 2026. – WABC
Smoke in the passenger cabin of a JetBlue airplane that made an emergency touchdown Wednesday evening at Newark Liberty International Airport led to passengers evacuating onto the tarmac and temporarily shut down the airport.
JetBlue flight 543 took off shortly after 5:30 p.m. Wednesday heading to West Palm Beach, the Port Authority informed NCS.
The airline says the Airbus A320 had an “engine issue” and there was smoke in the cabin. After 17 minutes in flight, it made an emergency touchdown again at Newark.
“We’re just going to exit the runway and have fire / rescue make sure the engine, number one engine, is OK,” a pilot informed air site visitors controllers in audio captured by the web site LiveATC.web.
Just a couple of minutes after touchdown, the smoke in the cabin prompted the pilot to name for an evacuation.
“We got smoke in the back. We are going to have to be evacuating here in a second,” the pilot stated.
“He’s going to pull the chutes,” an emergency responder outdoors the airplane warned the tower, referencing the deployment of the emergency exit slides.
“Attention all aircraft, Newark Airport is closed,” air site visitors controller introduced.
No accidents have been reported, and the Federal Aviation Administration issued a floor cease, halting flights headed to the airport till about 7 p.m. ET.
“Safety is JetBlue’s top priority,” the airline stated in a press release. “We are focused on supporting our customers and crewmembers and will work closely with the appropriate federal authorities to investigate what occurred.”
The FAA is investigating.
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