Two passenger planes from different airlines sustained tire damage just hours apart after arriving at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Monday.
The agency is investigating and said all passengers were able to deplane the Boeing 737-800 via stairs.
A spokesperson for American Airlines told NTD via email Tuesday that first responders did meet the aircraft “out of an abundance of caution,” noting that the passengers were safely transported to the terminal by bus, in line with standard procedure.
“​The ​aircraft has been taken out ​of ​service ​to ​be ​inspected ​by our ​maintenance ​team,” the spokesperson added. “We ​thank ​our team members ​for ​their ​professionalism and we ​apologize to our customers for ​their ​experience.”
An image of the blown tires was posted on Reddit by a user who said his neighbor had been aboard the flight.
The second incident occurred a little over three hours later, when United Flight 739 suffered tire damage after landing at Chicago O’Hare just after 5:20 p.m. local time, following a flight from Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska.
A spokesperson for United told NTD there were 121 customers and five crew members on the plane, adding that all of the passengers were deplaned via airstairs and bussed back to the terminal.
The recent incidents come just days after another tire-related problem involving a United Airlines plane at O’Hare.
The Boeing 737-900 had been headed to the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona. A spokesperson for the airline told the outlet that the pilots were able to safely abort takeoff.
The passengers were deplaned and transported via bus to a terminal, where United arranged another aircraft to take them to Phoenix later that day.
There was no immediate indication that any of the three events were related, and no injuries have been reported. It remains unclear whether any mechanical problems, runway conditions, or other factors contributed to the tires being damaged. The FAA has not announced an official cause for any of the tire incidents.
NTD reached out to Chicago O’Hare for more information, but a response was not received by publication time.
