A US Airways plane blew a tire while taking off Thursday evening at Philadelphia International Airport. Credit: Dennis Fee
A U.S. Airways plane found itself in a precarious situation Thursday evening when its nose gear collapsed on the runway during take off at the Philadelphia International Airport.
U.S. Airways Flight 1702 was bound for Fort Lauderdale, Fla., when the front tire blew, causing the pilot to abort takeoff. Several photos taken at the scene show the plane resting on its nose off of the runway.
The incident occurred around 6:30 p.m. No injuries were reported and all 149 passengers were safely evacuated used a emergency slides.
“Very scary. People were screaming,” said Dennis Fee, who was a passenger on the flight to ABC Radio. Fee uploaded video and photos to his Facebook account shortly after he was evacuated.
Victoria Lupica, PHL spokesman, said one passenger requested medical assistance and may be taken to the hospital. Airline officials are re-accomodating the passengers and will be scheduled to leave on a later flight to their Florida destination.
There is presently a 2-hour, 17-minute delay for arriving flights. However, no flights have been diverted to other airports. The airport’s three other runways are open and departing flights are all on schedule.
