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Problems continue for Allegiant as airline reports third emergency landing in a month at St. Pete-Clearwater

 
Passenger aircraft with Allegiant Air's fleet are parked on the tarmac at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport. [DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times]
Passenger aircraft with Allegiant Air's fleet are parked on the tarmac at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport. [DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times]
Published Dec. 16, 2015

For the third time in a month, an Allegiant Air flight has been forced to make an emergency landing at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport.

But this time, the airline confirmed, passengers didn't know.

Allegiant Flight 977 left Asheville, N.C., on Friday, bound for Punta Gorda, but was forced to divert to St. Pete-Clearwater because of bad weather, the airline said.

But before the MD-83 aircraft landed, pilots declared an emergency after an "indicator light" pointed to a possible "maintenance issue" on the aircraft, Allegiant said Saturday.

The plane landed safely at 7:53 p.m.

But a passenger, University of Miami women's head tennis coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews, said neither pilots nor flight attendants told passengers that the plane had declared an emergency.

Yaroshuk-Tews said passengers were told weather would delay a landing in Punta Gorda. But after circling the airport for a time, they were told the aircraft was diverting to St. Pete-Clearwater. She said passengers were led to believe the cause was bad weather.

She became suspicious Allegiant was withholding information about a mechanical problem, she said, especially after the pilot told them they would have to switch to another aircraft before continuing to Punta Gorda.

Yaroshuk-Tews said she asked a flight attendant about mechanical issues. But she said the woman insisted bad weather was to blame.

"I told her you don't switch out the plane because of bad weather in Punta Gorda," Yaroshuk-Tews said. "Then she told me it was the weather, but once they were on the ground, they experienced a mechanical issue and decided to ground the plane."

After waiting a time, Yaroshuk-Tews said she decided she would not wait for a replacement plane. She called her husband to drive from Punta Gorda to pick up her and the kids.

Allegiant confirmed that it did not inform passengers of the emergency. "We generally do not inform passengers of declared emergencies," the airline said Saturday evening.

An Allegiant spokesperson said an indicator light in the cockpit pointed to a potential problem with the alignment of the aircraft's spoilers, which rise from the wings to reduce lift during descent. Allegiant said it is unsure if a sensor malfunctioned or if there was an actual problem with the spoilers.

"Our mechanics are currently investigating the issue," the airline said.

Allegiant said passengers were put on a replacement aircraft and departed St. Pete-Clearwater, landing in Punta Gorda at 10:42 p.m., four hours later than scheduled. There were 146 passengers and six crew members aboard, the airline said.

Yaroshuk-Tews, 41, who was returning to Florida from a vacation with her two kids, ages 7 and 9, said the flight was one of the oddest she had ever experienced as a frequent flier.

The aircraft was descending into Punta Gorda when, she said, the pilot announced they would have to circle that airport because of bad weather. In fact, Yaroshuk-Tews said, her husband later told her a storm was buffeting the airport.

The aircraft circled for a while. Yaroshuk-Tews said a flight attendant then got on the intercom and told passengers they could get up to use the restroom.

But soon, she said, a clearly agitated flight attendant announced that everyone had to immediately return to their seats because the plane was going to land at St. Pete-Clearwater in just seven minutes.

It took another 20 or so minutes for the plane to land in Pinellas, Yaroshuk-Tews said.

At one point, she said a flight attendant got on the public-address system, upset at passengers asking so many questions. She said the attendant said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we appreciate you asking no questions. We don't have any answers."

"I didn't understand all the weirdness," Yaroshuk-Tews said. "They never told us a thing about an emergency. Nothing."

An Allegiant flight made an emergency landing at St. Pete-Clearwater on June 17 for what the airline called a "pressurization" issue with the aircraft.

And on June 8, another Allegiant flight made an emergency landing eight minutes after taking off from St. Pete-Clearwater after smoke was seen in the cabin. Passengers disembarked on emergency slides.

Allegiant pilots, who have been in a labor dispute with the airline, have questioned whether the Las Vegas-based carrier compromises safety for profits. The airline has said it has one of the best safety records in the industry and that complaints by pilots are unfounded.

News researcher Tim Rozgonyi contributed to this report. Contact William R. Levesque at (813) 625-0038 or at levesque@tampabay.com.