It was a close call Thursday night for passengers and crew on a US Airways flight bound for Florida. They were forced to evacuate after a major malfunction during takeoff around 6:30 p.m. at Philadelphia International Airport.
Investigators are still trying to determine exactly what went wrong. But airport officials say the pilot reported a blown tire and aborted the takeoff. The front landing gear also collapsed.
All 149 passengers and five crewmembers aboard Flight 1702 were evacuated safely from the Airbus A320 and no injuries were reported. One photo posted on Twitter showed passengers being evacuated on the plane’s emergency slides.
“All customers and crew have safely evacuated,” said US Airways spokesman Todd Lehmacher. “Emergency crews are on scene. Passengers are in the process of being transported to the terminal.”
The nose gear collapsed on the runway at 6:38 p.m., Philadelphia International Airport said. The flight had been scheduled to leave at 6:05 p.m.
“We believe the tire blew, causing the nose gear to collapse, while it was moving down the runway,” spokeswoman Victoria Lupica said.
A ground stop to control plane traffic was in effect, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Three of the four runways were later reopened.
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