Delta flight lands safely in Charlotte without front landing gear

A Delta airplane landed safely without its front landing gear at the Charlotte-Douglas International airport in North Carolina, the airline said.

No injuries have been reported among the two pilots, flight attendants or 96 customers on board the flight.

The Boeing 717 remains on the runway following the mechanical issue, but all passengers have been evacuated.

The flight had left from Atlanta earlier on Wednesday.

In a statement to the BBC, Delta airlines called the morning's events a "rare occurrence" but said that Delta crews "train extensively to safely manage through many scenarios and flight 1092 landed safely without reported injuries".

"Our focus is now to take care of our customers on this flight, including retrieving their bags and seeing them to their final destinations safely," Delta said.

In an audio clip from air traffic control posted by local CBS News affiliate CBS 17, a pilot from flight 1092 says the plane has "a nose-wheel unsafe indication".

"We're going to have to go ahead and declare an emergency," the pilot says. "We have 104 souls on board... we have 50 minutes worth of fuel."

In a statement posted to Twitter, the Charlotte airport said a runway remained closed following the "mechanical issue" with the Delta flight.