An aeroplane was evacuated and a runway closed at Sharjah International Airport today after the plane suffered a burst tyre prior to takeoff. Aviation officials said ambulances and rescue teams rushed to the scene, but noone was hurt. The 172 passengers and six crew members on board the Air India Express flight to Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, were immediately evacuated from the plane after the incident at about noon. The state news agency WAM said: "The captain avoided taking off and managed to halt the plane at the runway." There were five children among the plane's passengers, according to WAM. "Thank God no one is injured and there is no fatality," said Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi, the director general of Sharjah Civil Aviation Authority. Sheikh Khalid said an investigation was under way into what caused the tyre to burst. The passengers had been well looked after in the airport as they awaited a later flight, he added.
ykakande@thenational.ae
