Flights diverted, delayed after tires blow in landing

Paul Clinton

JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT -- A Delta Airlines MD-90 jetliner arriving from

Texas blew three tires in a somewhat fiery landing Friday and prompted a

four-hour shutdown on the north-south runway.

No injuries were reported, but the incident caused major delays at the

airport.

Arriving from Dallas-Fort Worth, Flight 887 headed southward toward

the runway and touched down at the airport at about 12:20 p.m., according

to a Delta Airlines spokeswoman. It was carrying 42 passengers and six

crew members.

Many people trying to take off out of John Wayne -- and even more

travelers trying to fly in -- were inconvenienced for four hours while

the runway was closed. Air traffic controllers diverted 33 arrivals and

postponed 13 departures, said Ann McCarley, an airport spokeswoman.

“Our arriving flights could not land,” McCarley said.

The disabled plane sat on Runway 19 during the closure, preventing

scheduled incoming and outgoing flights as repair crews hurried to

replace the blown tires.

Shortly after the blowout of the plane’s tires, hydraulic brake fluid

spilled onto the tire rubber and caught fire, McCarley said.

Airport fire crews quickly doused the flames, after the plane skidded

to a stop. Delta mechanics performed a maintenance check on the plane in

the aftermath of the rough landing.

The Federal Aviation Administration, the agency that regulates air

commerce, opened the runway at about 4:30 p.m.