Two commercial flights suffered tire blowouts at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Monday, with both incidents unfolding within roughly three hours of landing.
The first involved an American Airlines flight arriving from New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The aircraft touched down shortly after 2 p.m. local time and sustained tire damage on landing, before a United Airlines plane encountered a similar problem later in the day.
Emergency crews quickly responded to the American Airlines Boeing 737-800, with fire trucks seen surrounding the plane after the tire issue was reported.
“America 386, you require any assistance,” an air traffic controller asked in audio obtained by NBC News. “I heard you just blown a tire.”
“No injuries and no one’s panicking,” a pilot responded over the radio. “Everyone remains seated.”
According to ABC News, two tires on the American Airlines plane blew out, forcing officials to temporarily shut down the runway while crews removed debris.
All 180 passengers aboard the flight were later transported by bus 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.
