TV Pitchman's "Close Call" on Philly Flight
The night before he died, Billy Mays talked about rough landing on Phillly flight
By KAREN ARAIZA and ASHA BEH
Updated 1:16 PM EST, Mon, Jun 29, 2009
The night before he died, TV pitchman Billy Mays tweeted and talked about the rough landing he and other passengers had when a US Airways jet from Philadelphia to Tampa blew its front tires upon landing.
"Just had a close call landing in Tampa. The tires blew out on landing. Stuck in the plane on the runway. You can always count on US Air," he tweeted.
According to TMZ, when Mays, 50, spoke afterwards to a reporter in Tampa,he said, "All of a sudden as we hit you know, it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head."
After an autopsy Monday, a Florida medical examiner said Mays likely died from a heart attack and showed no signs of head trauma.
There were 138 passengers and five crew members on the flight. Some had a few bumps and bruises but no serious injuries were reported.
"There was a slam and we all went forward," passenger Cindy McGee told the Tribune. "We skidded. After a while, the pilot said we had a problem and to stay on the plane. A friend of mine who was sitting on the wing said that when we landed she saw something fly by her window," said McGee. "A little girl sitting next to me was crying," McGee said, "when she saw all the firemen around the plane."
The Boeing 737 came in for a landing about 2:45 p.m. with gear problems. Mays and all the other flight 1241 passengers were taken off the plane and over to a secure area where they later got their luggage. The runway was shut down for awhile.
The incident will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC Philadelphia
First Published: Jun 27, 2009 5:36 PM EST
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