Delta flight to NYC returns to Pittsburgh for emergency landing after sensor alert

A Delta flight bound for New York City returned to Pittsburgh and safely made an emergency landing Wednesday afternoon after a sensor activated, according to the Allegheny County Airport Authority.

No one was injured aboard Delta Flight 5807.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating, said in a statement that the plane returned to Pittsburgh due to a “front door indicator light.”

The aircraft, an Embraer 175, typically holds between 76 and 88 passengers.

The flight left Pittsburgh International Airport at 11:27 a.m. for John F. Kennedy International Airport, where it was scheduled to land at 1:06 p.m.

But a “pressure alert sensor” went off, and pilots made the decision to return to Pittsburgh, said Matthew Neistein, an airport authority spokesman.

The plane was over Lycoming County in northcentral Pennsylvania when it turned around. It landed in Pittsburgh at 12:48 p.m., according to FlightAware, an online flight tracker.

Republic Airways was operating the flight for Delta. Republic spokesman Jon Austin said the flight crew received a precautionary alert shortly after takeoff and elected to return to Pittsburgh to get it checked.

“We apologize to our passengers for the delay in their travel but we always err on the side of safety in such situations,” he said.

Austin said the flight landed without incident and taxied to the gate under its own power, where Republic’s maintenance team could look over the aircraft.

The plane was rescheduled to depart early Wednesday afternoon and took off again from Pittsburgh at 4:24 p.m.

It landed in New York at 5:49 p.m