Two passenger planes suffered tire blowouts within three hours after landing at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Monday.
American Airlines Flight 386, a Boeing 737-800 that had departed from LaGuardia Airport in New York, landed safely at O’Hare just after 2 p.m. Local time before two of its tires blew out. Fire trucks surrounded the aircraft on the tarmac after the emergency was reported.
“America 386, you require any assistance,” an air traffic controller asked, according to audio obtained by NBC News. “I heard you just blown a tire.”
“No injuries and no one’s panicking,” a pilot replied. “Everyone remains seated.”
Two tires blew out and the runway was temporarily closed while debris was cleared. All 180 passengers on board were bussed to the terminal.
“We thank our team members for their professionalism and we apologize to our customers for their experience,” an American Airlines spokesperson said.
The plane has since been taken out of service and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the incident.
The scare involving American Airlines came just three hours before a United plane, which had taken off from Omaha, suffered a burst tire upon landing.
United Flight 739, an Airbus A320, had departed Nebraska around 90 minutes before touching down at O’Hare at 5:30 p.m. Local time. The aircraft’s main left tire blew when it was exiting the runway after landing.
“He’s stationary, there’s debris over there,” an air traffic controller pointed out. “Runway 1-0 center is closed, our guy is busy.”
“After arriving at Chicago O’Hare, United flight 739 sustained tire damage,” a United spokesperson said. “Customers deplaned via airstairs and buses took them back to the terminal.”
There are no suggestions the blowouts are related as they happened at different parts of the airport.
In the viral moment that preceded Monday’s incidents, a United Airlines flight bound for Phoenix was forced to abort its takeoff at Chicago O’Hare last Thursday after suffering two blown tires. “We saw lots of chunks of tire going down the runway,” a pilot said, according to Live ATC audio. That flight, which had 161 customers and six crew members on board, was the tenth reported incident for United in a two-week period, though no injuries were reported in any of the events.
The FAA is investigating all three tire incidents at O’Hare.