Kochi: A tyre of a Jet Airways plane burst
on Thursday as the pilot aborted take-off suspecting problem with
the breaks while taxiing to fly to Chennai.
None of the 48 passengers and four crew members on board
was injured in the incident involving the airline's
Cochin-Chennai flight 9W 2730, airport sources said.
As the aircraft was taxiing for take-off at around 1230
hours, the pilot got an indication of "hot brakes" and aborted
take-off. This led to a rear tyre being deflated and caused
smoke to come out due to the resultant friction.
The passengers were deplaned after the incident and the
runway remained closed for about 30 minutes till the aircraft
was hauled to the parking bay, the sources said.
An airline spokesperson said that as per standard
operating procedure and in the interest of safety, the Captain
ordered "precautionary evacuation" of passengers.
The airline later made arrangements for the onward
journey of passengers through Indian Airlines, the
spokesperson said, adding that an engineering team was
carrying out inspection and assessment.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, February 17, 2011, 19:03