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Airliner with tire trouble lands safely

Blown tire forces American Airlines jet to return to Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- An American Airlines jet made an emergency landing in Nashville on Sunday evening after it blew a tire on takeoff, an airline spokesman said.

Flight 1307 had just taken off from Nashville shortly after 4 p.m. (5 p.m. EDT) on a non-stop trip to Los Angeles when one of its tires blew apart. Debris from the tire went into one of the engines of the MD-80, causing a "little vibration" for the plane and a lot of concern in the cockpit, said spokesman Al Becker.

The plane was carrying 100 passengers and five crew members. The pilot knew within several minutes of takeoff that he wanted to come back to Nashville, said Becker.

"He spent about three hours in the air just burning fuel to get light enough to land back at the Nashville airport," Becker said.

Passengers were let off at the gate before the plane was taken out of service for inspection, he said. The passengers were expected to be put onto another plane to Los Angeles later Sunday night.

The cause of the blown tire was still a mystery, Becker said. "We'll conduct an inquiry and see if we can find out."

Cathy Holland, a spokeswoman for Nashville International Airport, said the airport went into alert mode with fire equipment and emergency personnel on standby on the field.

Holland said no other flights were affected and the airport and flight schedules were operating at normal. The Nashville airport has a total of four runways.



 
 
 
 


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