This is the moment a tire on a Boeing 737 plane exploded as its pilots prepared to take off from Tampa International Airport.
American Airlines flight 590 was taxiing on the runway Wednesday morning when the plane suffered a mechanical issue, resulting in the aircraft’s right blowing out and catching on fire.
Video of the attempted takeoff shows how a layer of grey smoke filled the air after the tire sparked, leaving rubber fragments spewed across the runway.
There were 174 passengers and six crew members on board the Phoenix-bound flight, an American Airlines spokesperson said. No one was injured in the incident.
The terrifying mishap comes just two days after another Boeing aircraft was bouncing down a runway in Los Angeles after its wheel fell off.
An emergency response team was dispatched to the airfield at Taxiway W just before 8am Wednesday after the Boeing 737 plane’s tire exploded, a Tampa airport spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
‘Emergency, emergency, emergency. They’re on fire,’ YouTube user Captain Steven Markovich, who shared video of the incident, was heard yelling as the tire sparked.
Other voices heard over the radio could be heard saying ‘abort,’ and ‘we’ve got a blown tire’.
Passengers and crew ‘safely deplaned’ from the aircraft and were bused to Airside F. They were then rebooked on a replacement flight to Phoenix.
An American Airlines spokesperson said the aircraft ‘experienced a mechanical issue on the runway’ which ‘involved some of the aircraft’s tires’.
It is unclear if the issue has since been resolved.
‘Customers safely deplaned and were bussed to the terminal,’ the spokesperson said. ‘We never want to disrupt our customers’ travel plans and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.’
No other flight operations at the airport were impacted by the incident.
The tire mishap is just the latest in a series of alarming issues plaguing the troubled Boeing aircraft.
Earlier this week, the wheel of a Boeing 757 was seen bouncing down a runway after coming loose during takeoff.
The United Airlines flight was departing Los Angeles on Monday when disaster struck, sending one of its main landing gear wheels rolling across the tarmac.
Miraculously, the plane – carrying 174 passengers and seven crew members – managed to land safely in Denver despite the malfunction.
United Airlines confirmed that the wheel had been recovered in Los Angeles, and said ‘we are investigating what caused this event’.
It is similar to one that occurred in March when a United Boeing B777-200 jet lost a tire this time after takeoff from San Francisco.
The runaway wheel then crash-landed onto a car in an airport employee parking lot on March 7.
In April, Southwest Boeing 737-800 lost engine cover during takeoff.
And in January, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max suffered from a blown-out door plug mid-flight.
It comes just days after the company announced it plans to plead guilty to fraud in connection with approval of its 737 Max before two of the planes crashed, killing 346 people off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia.
The American aerospace giant has apparently made the calculation that admitting to a crime is better than fighting the charge and enduring a long public trial.
In a legal filing late Sunday – minutes before a midnight deadline – the Justice Department disclosed the agreement and said the fraud charge was ‘the most serious readily provable offense’ it could bring against Boeing.
Prosecutors say Boeing will pay another $243.6million fine, matching a fine it paid in 2021 for the same crime.
The Justice Department says a conviction for fraud will hold Boeing accountable for ‘misstatements’ it made to regulators who certified the 737 Max in 2017.
The crashes took place less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019.
The company still faces investigations into the blowout of a panel from an Alaska Airlines Max plane in January, increased oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration, and accusations from current and former employees about poor workmanship and retaliation against whistleblowers.
Boeing’s plea deal would bring the total to $487.2million, which the Justice Department says is the legal maximum for the fraud charge.
The deal also requires the company to invest at least $455million to improve safety.
It will be on court-supervised probation for three years, and the Justice Department will name an independent monitor to oversee Boeing’s compliance with terms of the plea agreement.
Boeing’s board of directors will also be required to meet with families of the victims.
Source: MailOnline
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