Newark Runways Temporarily Closed From Possible Aircraft Fire

All runways were temporarily closed at Newark Liberty Airport on Saturday for about 30 minutes as the airport dealt with a possible fire in the cargo of an airplane.

Air Transat Flight 942 was headed to Fort Lauderdale from Montreal, Canada, when it was diverted to Newark at 8:30 a.m. EST after the pilot reported a possible fire in the cargo.

Flight activity has resumed at #EWR after the pilot of an Air Transat flight requested an emergency landing due to a report of fire in the cargo hold of the plane. Plane landed safely. 2 minor injuries unrelated to any smoke condition. Confirm with your carrier for flight status.

- Newark Liberty Airport (@EWRairport) March 9, 2019

The aircraft landed on Runway 4 Right and passengers were evacuated via emergency slides. Firefighters were on the scene.

One person tweeted a video of the runways and it showed emergency vehicles surrounding the aircraft.

No injuries were reported according to Air Transit, but Newark International Liberty tweeted there were two minor injuries "unrelated to any smoke condition."

Emergency at Newark Airport.

Nothing arriving or going pic.twitter.com/YZBsg7QplN

- R.J.C (@RJCRampAgent) March 9, 2019

At about 9 a.m., the airport closed all of its runways, but reopened them and resumed flights at about 9:30 a.m.

According to FlightAware, about 98 flights are currently delayed at Newark. The FAA reports that there is a current airborne delay of about one hour and 16 to 30 minutes.

It's still unclear what caused the smoke or fire on the plane.

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