( CNN ) -- Almost 10 hours after a United Airlines airplane ran off the runway Monday , crews finally removed the wayward plane from its landing site at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport , an airport spokeswoman said . Michelle Wilcut said one runway remained closed as workers filled a deep hole in the nearby sod , but airport officials hoped the labor would be completed in time to reopen the runway later Monday night . The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilot lost braking and steering control during the landing . The hole in the ground formed when the plane 's nose gear burrowed into the sod , Wilcut said . No one was injured in the incident , according to FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford . The Airbus A-320 , flying as United Flight 497 from New Orleans to San Francisco , was smoking from the nose and made a screeching sound as it landed , a witness told CNN affiliate WVUE in New Orleans . Crews evacuated passengers from the plane using the emergency slides , Lunsford said . The flight was carrying 100 passengers and five crew members , according to United . However , the NTSB said 109 people were on board . The aircraft had returned to the airport about 20 minutes after take-off due to electrical difficulties and smoke in the cockpit , the NTSB said . Airline spokesman Rahsaan Johnson said the airplane experienced an issue with flight instruments . The pilot had asked to land on a longer runway but was diverted to a shorter one because of workers on the first runway , Lunsford said . CNN 's Dave Alsup contributed to this report .
NEW : 10 minutes after the Boeing 497 's emergency landing , the runway was still closed . NEW : The plane 's crew had dug a deep hole in the nearby sod . No one injured during the emergency landing . Plane was returning to San Francisco from New Orleans .