Two planes recently had tire blowouts at busy O'Hare Airport in Chicago. The incidents occurred just three hours apart on Monday, August 17, per the New York Post. According to the outlet, "An American Airlines plane...suffered tire damage when it landed just after 2 p.m. local time Monday before a United aircraft experienced the same issue later that day."
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Fire engines raced to the American Airlines plane. Two of its tires had reportedly blown. Per NBC News, which had audio from an exchange between the plane and an air traffic controller, "America 386, you require any assistance. I heard you just blown a tire." From a pilot came this calm response. "No injuries and no one's panicking. Everyone remains seated."
According to the Post, an American Airlines spokesperson said, "We?thank?our team members?for?their?professionalism and we?apologize to our customers for?their?experience." There were 180 passengers on that flght.
The Same Kind of Tire Incident Happened Three Hours Later
Also at O'Hare Airport, a United Airlines plane blew a tire when it landed from Nebraska three hours later that day. According to the Post, an air traffic controller stated, "He's stationary, there's debris over there."
It is not thought that the two incidents are related They occurred in different areas of O'Hare Airport.
A Blown Tire Caused a Concorde To Crash in 2000
Thankfully, these two tire situations in Chicago ended without a catastrophe. However, a tire blowout sometimes can cause a disastrous chain of events. On July 25, 2000, per the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Air France Flight 4590, which was a Concorde with 100 passengers and nine crew, suffered such a fate.
The ill-fated flight was headed from Paris to New York. During takeoff, per the FAA, it is believed that one of its tires struck a piece of sheet metal that fell from a DC-10 which departed five minutes before. Weather and wind were reportedly not factors in what happened next. One tire on the Concorde evidently failed, and a portion of its debris apparently caused "a massive fuel leak."
The fiery plane was not capable of normal flight at that point. It crashed into a hotel. Everyone on board tragically perished, along with four people on the ground.
