Southwest flight lands without front landing gear at NYC's LaGuardia Airport

By Barbara Goldberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Southwest Airlines plane flying from Nashville to New York City landed without its nose gear at LaGuardia airport on Monday but no one was hurt, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.

Flight 345, which left Nashville, Tennessee, at 1:55 p.m., reported possible front landing gear issues as it approached the airport, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said in a statement.

"The plane's nose gear collapsed as the aircraft landed on Runway 4 at 5:45 p.m. EDT (2145 p.m. GMT)," Bergen said. "The plane safely came to a stop and no injuries were reported."

The FAA is investigating the incident. The airline said passengers had been evacuated from the plane, but it did not say how many people were onboard.

"Emergency responders at New York's LaGuardia airport are assisting with an evacuation of flight 345 after the Boeing 737 arrived this evening from Nashville," Southwest said in a statement, without giving further details.

Televised images of the plane, which CNN reported was carrying more than 100 passengers, showed it surrounded by emergency vehicles.

(Editing by Dina Kyriakidou, Toni Reinhold)

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