Plane Crash: Nose Gear Penetrates Fuselage

The nose gear of a Southwest Airlines jet collapsed backward and into the body of the aircraft following a hard landing at New York's LaGuardia Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board found the landing gear "collapsed rearward and upward into the fuselage, damaging the electronics bay that houses avionics."

The agency said on its Twitter feed that the plane skidded 2,175 ft (663m) before stopping at the edge of the runway on Monday.

It posted a photo showing the jet's electronics bay penetrated by the landing gear with only the right axle still attached.

Investigators recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorders on Tuesday. They will be analysed by the NTSB.

Sixteen passengers suffered minor injuries during Flight 345's landing.

The NTSB has also confirmed that the emergency escape slides on the 737-700 deployed normally following the accident.

The plane was coming from Nashville, Tennessee.

The incident came 16 days after Asiana Flight 214 crash-landed at San Francisco's international airport.

Three Chinese teenagers died as a result of the Boeing 777 crash, with dozens more people injured.