Simon Hradecky / The Aviation Herald
Sharjah, Jul 7: An Air India Express Boeing 737-800, flight IX-536 from Sharjah, U A E to Thiruvananthapuram (India) with 172 passengers and 6 crew, rejected takeoff from Sharjah at high speed due to severe vibrations, on tuesday, July 7.
The airplane stopped safely on the runway, emergency services responded.
The runway had to be closed "for a short time", airport officials reported. The airplane was towed to the apron. The vibrations were caused by a burst tyre.
Khaleej Times Adds:
A tyre of a Boeing 737-800 Air India Express flight to South Indian destination of Trivandrum burst just before takeoff from Sharjah International Airport at 12.10pm on Tuesday, sending 172 passengers onboard into panic. The pilot aborted the takeoff. None was injured but the runway had to be closed for two hours.
The passengers were made to disembark by Sharjah Civil Defence, police and flight attendants. They were taken to the terminus building and allowed to rest in the airport lounge.
Mohini Singh, an Air India official, said they arranged another flight from India and the stranded passengers were flown to Trivandrum around 9.20pm.
The airport’s emergency team responded quickly as per the emergency plan and crisis management
guidelines.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Shaikh Khalid bin Issam Al Qasimi, Chairman of Sharjah Civil Aviation, said the Civil Defence declared an emergency situation and closed the runway to ensure the safety of the other flights.
The official said the airport is well-prepared and equipped to face such incidents and that the staff are trained to act swiftly to handle any emergency.
The aircraft was moved from the runway to allow smooth movement of other flights. The official said the situation has returned to normal.
Yousif Al Serkal, Director-General of Civil Defence, said that the firefighting unit at the airport responded immediately and four fire engines as well as recue teams and ambulances surrounded the flight.
Panic and relief were writ large on the faces of passengers as they disembarked. Santosh, Karia, a passenger, told Khaleej Times that the incident happened two seconds before the plane was to take off.
“The plane was moving at high speed and suddenly all passengers felt a jerky movement. We panicked and children and women screamed. There was a sudden break and the flight stopped. We were told by the crew to remain calm for 45 minutes and then we were asked to leave the flight and go back to the
airport,” he said.
In May this year, a Russian cargo flight had to make emergency landing at the airport due to a technical snag. In October last year too, a Russian cargo flight developed a technical fault and made emergency landing at the airport.