Plane Makes Miraculous Landing After Wild Series of Equipment Failures
A flight carrying 45 passengers was forced to make an emergency landing just after taking off in Algeria over the weekend, when a chain reaction caused a series of cascading equipment failures. Thankfully, the pilot was able to safely land the plane and no injuries were reported.
The New York Post reports that a Bombardier DHC-8-402Q Dash 8 had been departing the Rhourd Enous Airfield on Saturday when both tires on ones of its wheels burst. Debris from one of the tires was then believed to have ricocheted off and hit a propeller, which proceeded to snap off and smash through one of the passenger windows.
Photos of the destruction taken from out the passenger window has since surfaced on social media, showing just how close of a call the incident was. The propeller tip can be seen broken off and jagged while the two wheels were stripped. According to the UK Mirror, some reports state that a wing may have likewise sustained damage in the chaotic series of events.
A Tassili Airlines DHC8-400 suffered multiple tires burst on take-off damaging one of the cabin windows and propeller blade.
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The passengers were said to have been employees with Algeria’s state-owned oil company, Sonatrach. They were reportedly placed on another aircraft and eventually transported to their destination to Oran, a port city in northwest Algeria.
"During take-off, the aircraft experienced a tire burst," said Tassili Airlines in a statement. "The crew managed the situation skillfully, following standard procedures to return and land on the same runway without any damage or panic."
Though tires popping on aircraft is rare, it does occasionally happen. Last August, Delta Airlines passengers were forced to evacuate a flight after one of the tires popped on the landing gear. It's unclear whether anyone was injured in that incident.