( CNN ) -- A Southwest Airlines jetliner sustained substantial damage when its nose gear collapsed during landing in New York and it skidded down the runway , injuring 10 people . The National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday that the extent of damage to the Boeing 737-700 prompted it to launch a full investigation of Monday 's incident at LaGuardia airport . `` When the nose wheel collapsed it did n't just neatly fold back up there but it produced collateral damage in the nose wheel well , '' safety board spokesman Eric Weiss told CNN . Separately , Southwest reached out to Flight 345 passengers , some of whom reported chaos and confusion in the cabin as the plane slid down 7,000-foot Runway 4 with its nose scraping the tarmac . Airline officials , in e-mails obtained by CNN , apologized for the `` unexpected experience '' and inconvenience and expressed concern for their well being . Southwest is refunding air fares and sending them complimentary tickets for future travel . Southwest , the largest domestic airline , did not respond to efforts by CNN to confirm the e-mails . Passengers recounted the final harrowing moments of what had been a delayed , but uneventful flight from Nashville . Kathy Boles , a passenger , said a `` strong jolt '' shook the cabin when the gear failed and the nose slammed into the tarmac at about 5:40 p.m . ET . `` It was just a bang and a bounce , and then a slam on the brakes and a skidding feeling , '' Boles told CNN 's `` Anderson Cooper 360Â° . '' `` I feel extremely blessed to have come off that , '' she said . `` It just really felt like the plane could have broken in half , it was such a hard impact . '' Fellow passenger Anastasia Elliot said the situation was `` pretty chaotic . '' `` We hit the ground pretty hard and slid , '' she said . `` There was a lot of smoke filling the plane , just a lot of smoke and burnt rubber . '' Another passenger said it felt like the plane crashed and then skidded to a stop . `` Everything in the plane that was loose went flying forward , '' Bill Roland said . `` There were cell phones , iPads , books ( and ) drinks all skidded up . '' Passengers escaped the plane down emergency chutes . LaGuardia flight delays related to the incident impacted the morning rush as crews removed the disabled twin-engine jet from the edge of the runway where it came to rest . It was towed to a hangar . By evening , delays had returned , but they were tied to normal stormy summer weather along the East Coast . NTSB protocol involves reviewing cockpit voice and data recorders as well as interviewing crew members and reviewing flight logs and maintenance records . Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration will also be party to the investigation as is customary . Southwest said in a statement that it was working with the NTSB and Boeing . The plane , which entered service nearly 14 years ago , was last inspected on July 18 , Southwest said . No details about the inspection were released . In addition to 10 hurt on the plane , a Port Authority police officer was treated for heat exhaustion , the agency said . Initially , the FAA said the crew reported a possible nose gear problem before landing but later amended that to say no issues were noted ahead of time after a review of air controller tapes . The 737 has a conventional hydraulic landing gear system -- a unit under each wing and a steerable wheel that extends from under the nose . Pilots can land safely with only the main gear operable as those wheels absorb the weight of the plane when it first meets the runway . The nose is then set down for the remainder of the landing roll . Nose gear problems on commercial jets occur from time to time , but the crew normally would be alerted to any issue during approach by warning lights and would have time to abort a landing or come in on just the back wheels . Southwest is the biggest domestic airline and flies only 737s . It has more than 600 of the workhorse aircraft in its fleet . Monday 's incident followed a runway crash of an Asiana Airlines jetliner in San Francisco last month . Investigators in that crash will not determine a cause for several months at least , but initial attention has focused on actions of the crew during approach . In May : Plane lands without landing gear at Newark . CNN 's Caleb Silver , Poppy Harlow , and Mary Snow contributed to this report .
NEW : Southwest reaches out to survivors of Flight 345 . The Boeing 737 is moved to a hangar for inspection . A passenger describes ` ` a bang and a bounce '' as the landing gear fails . Two passengers sustained minor injuries when they skidded on impact after landing .