199 SpiceJet passengers have narrow escape as flight tyre bursts in Chennai

Air traffic was delayed for a few hours at Chennai airport

The air traffic in Chennai International Airport got affected for several hours on Thursday after a Delhi-bound SpiceJet flight made an emergency landing on Thursday afternoon after a tyre got burst. This has affected the flights scheduled for the next few hours, according to airport sources.

"Today at around 1425 hrs due to a tyre burst & hydraulic problem in MAA-Delhi bound SG106 made an emergency landing. Aircraft landed safely but with another tyre burst on starboard side. All 199 passengers on-board safely deplaned and returned to terminal," said Airport Authority of India officials. The event resulted in the aircraft stuck in the taxiway near the runway and there were damages to main runway. However, the secondary runway was in use at the time.

Out of the six flights diverted from Chennai airport due to the incident, five have landed at Chennai airport till 8 pm and another one will be landed soon, they said.

"SpiceJet Chennai-Delhi flight suffered a suspected tyre burst at the time of take off. The crew decided to turn back and landed safely at Chennai. Passengers were deplaned safely in a normal manner and taken to terminal building," said a SpiceJet spokesperson.

The emergency landing led to several delays and diverted flights. The loss caused due to the emergency is not known.

The Airport Authority has said that the main runway resumed operations at 6.45 pm.