Two passenger planes experienced tire blowouts within three hours after landing at Chicago’s O’Hare airport.
An American Airlines plane, which had taken off from LaGuardia, suffered tire damage when it landed just after 2 p.m. local time Monday before a United aircraft experienced the same issue later that day.
Fire trucks surrounded the American aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, after the emergency was reported.
“America 386, you require any assistance,” an air traffic controller asked, according to audio obtained by NBC News. “I heard you just blown a tire.”
“No injuries and no one’s panicking,” a pilot replied. “Everyone remains seated.” Two tires blew out and the runway was temporarily closed while debris was cleared, ABC News reported.
There were 180 passengers on board and they were bussed to the terminal.
“We thank our team members for their professionalism and we apologize to our customers for their experience,” an American Airlines spokesperson said.
The plane has since been taken out of service and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate.
The scare involving American Airlines came just three hours before a United plane, which had taken off from Omaha, suffered a burst tire upon landing.
The Airbus A320 plane’s main left tire blew when it was the exiting the runway after touching down at O’Hare at 5:30 p.m. local time, around 90 minutes after departing Nebraska.
“He’s stationary, there’s debris over there,” an air traffic controller pointed out. “Runway 1-0 center is closed, our guy is busy.”
“After arriving at Chicago O’Hare, United flight 739 sustained tire damage,” a United spokesperson said.
“Customers deplaned via airstairs and buses took them back to the terminal.”
There are no suggestions the blowouts are related as they happened at different parts of the airport.
Last Thursday, a United Airlines plane bound for Phoenix was forced to abort its takeoff at Chicago O’Hare after suffering two blown tires.
“We saw lots of chunks of tire going down the runway,” a pilot said, according to Live ATC audio.
The post Two Chicago-bound planes suffer tire blowouts three hours apart after landing at O’Hare airport appeared first on New York Post.
