BATON ROUGE – A regional jet diverted to Metro Airport where it landed under an emergency alert Friday afternoon.

The airport tower activated its emergency procedures around 2 p.m. when the pilot radioed there was an indicator light on that suggested a problem with the landing gear. The plane was able to land without incident – meaning safely.

The American Airlines regional carrier was about 30 minutes into its flight from Hattiesburg to the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) airport when it landed in Baton Rouge.

The twin-jet, 88-foot long plane seats fifty people. Baton Rouge airport officials said passengers deplaned and were awaiting scheduled connecting flights to Dallas from Baton Rouge.

The exact cause of the gear warning is unknown.

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