Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Christian Waser
What: United Airlines Boeing 767-300 en route from Washington to Brussels Belgium
Where: Dulles (Washington DC)
When: May 8th 2010
Who: 176 passengers and 11 crew
Why: About five minutes after takeoff, the on board crew was informed that pieces of the plane were left on the runway. Those pieces turned out to be the remains of tires. The plane went into a holding pattern to burn off fuel, then landed safely back at Dulles between two and three hours after takeoff. A piece of runway pavement was missing, leading to the conclusion that the runway popped the tire…
George’s Point of View
Most times I fly United and hope that their maintenance is better than the look of their wearing interiors. I don’t usually worry too much about the airport.
If I knew that the plane I was on had left pieces of itself on the runway, I’d rather be circling the airport than over the Atlantic. On the other hand, if I knew a shaggy runway was going to pop a tire on the plane I was on, I’d have walked the runway myself before taking off.
What is a frequent flier to do but nag the FAA?