December 19, 2005
Plane Makes Emergency Landing At LAX After Blowing Tire
Officials said an Air India flight with 273 passengers and crewmembers aboard made an emergency landing Monday evening at Los Angeles International Airport after blowing a tire upon departure and dumping fuel over the ocean.Airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles said Air India Flight 136 departed from Los Angeles International Airport at 8:33 p.m. for Frankfurt, Germany, and safely landed back at LAX at 10 p.m. after dumping fuel.
Castles said the landing triggered a No. 2 alert at the airport, one grade lower than the alert issued for the emergency landing of a JetBlue aircraft with a twisted landing gear earlier this year.
Television footage showed sparks flying from the 747-400 aircraft as it made its emergency landing.
No physical injuries were reported, said Los Angeles City Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells, "but there were emotional injuries and stress." One person was taken to a hospital, he said.
The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily halted flights at the airport while the aircraft was landing, but operations resumed soon afterward, Castles said.
More than 150 LA city firefighters and paramedics responded to the scene. Rescue personnel sprayed down the tires because of sparks caused by the landing and were evaluating the structure of the plane.
"We were prepared for the worst scenario to take place," said Fire Department spokesman Wells.
Passengers began to get off the plane about 10:30 p.m. Two runways were closed as a result of the emergency landing.
Alfred Hallenberger, identified as a passenger on the jet, told L.A.'s Fox 11 News in a telephone interview that the plane vibrated strongly as it landed, and that "some passengers were nervous." When the plane stopped, "there was clapping and cheers," he said.
The LAFD's Report of this incident can be found here.
