232 Qantas passengers had the fright of their lives last night as a Qantas 747 aborted its take off from Los Angeles, instigating three automated tyre burstings as it did so.
A Qantas spokeswoman said, “Due to a cockpit alert the aircraft operating Qantas Flight 12 from Los Angeles to Sydney rejected take-off at 11:00pm local time.”
“As a result the aircraft experienced damage to three of its landing gear tyres and 217 passengers disembarked on the taxi way by mobile stairs and were bused to the terminal.”
None of the 232 passengers and crew was hurt in the incident and the Qantas spokeswoman said the passengers were taken to hotels and the plane would leave early today Sydney time “subject to the aircraft being cleared for operations”.
The passengers left left LAX for SYD on another aircraft this morning Sydney time, with the original 747 under investiation for what caused the cockpit alerts.
It also appears that the tyres bursting is a planned occurance, with plugs inserted into the tyres designed to blow on extreme heat, preventing fire.
Media reports say that the process was handled excellently by the flight crew, with no panic on board.
A Report by The Mole
