A cargo plane taking off from the Macau International Airport heading for Malaysia suffered a burst tyre at 1:30 a.m. on Friday, leading to the temporary closure of the airport’s runway until 6:45 a.m. that day, with five flights impacted.
The PT. Indo Airlines cargo flight involved was MYU862, a Boeing 737-400F aircraft, heading for Malaysia’s Kuching International Airport, according to a statement by the Macau Civil Aviation Authority (AACM), which underlined that three crew members and an aircraft engineer on board were not injured in the incident: “The pilot immediately aborted takeoff and manoeuvred the aircraft off the runway”.
According to the statement, the cause of the incident was confirmed by the AACM Accident Prevention and Investigation Group to be a blowout of the left tyre on the plane’s landing gear.
The airport concessionaire closed the runway for a full inspection immediately after the incident and reopened operations at 6:45 a.m. on Friday, with flights gradually resuming on that day, the statement said, adding that AACM has initiated an investigation into the incident.
The freighter is registered in Indonesia. The airline operates regular cargo flights between Balikpapan in Indonesia, Kuching in Malaysia, and Macau.
This handout photo provided by the Macau International Airport on Friday shows Macau Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) Accident Prevention and Investigation Group technicians tackling the burst tyre on PT. Indo Air’s Boeing 737-400F landing gear.
