Flights had to be suspended for four hours due to the ground incident.
A Brussels Airlines Airbus A320 had a burst tire on Wednesday, June 21, as aircraft was getting ready to take off from Vilnius Airport in Lithuania. Several flights were diverted as a result of the incident's location, which obstructed a crucial taxiway and caused an hours-long flight stoppage.
Details of the incident
The incident at Vilnius Airport took place around 16:20 and involved flight SN2372 of Brussels Airlines. With this five-times-weekly service, an Airbus A319 or A320 connects Brussels with Vilnius. A320-200 registration OO-SNI was involved in the incident on June 21.
Brussels Airlines Airbus A320 (OO-SNI, built 2003) during taxi for takeoff runway 19 at Vilnius Intl AP (EYVI), Lithuania flight #SN2372 to Brussels lost its left inner maingear tire right before line-up. All on board left the plane safely via airstairs.https://t.co/5gkLm4VNWk pic.twitter.com/ld3hxmi3gd
— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) June 21, 2023
According to Aviation24.be, the plane, which had six crew members and 175 passengers on board, lost its left inner main gear as it was about to take off. According to the website, a passenger on board was quoted as expressing the following to the local press:
"an explosion was heard, parts of the tire were scattered. At first, passengers were not allowed to move around. Ground crew arrived then everyone was able to leave the aircraft."
No one was hurt as a result of the incident, and all passengers safely descended the airstairs to leave the aircraft.
