Jaipur:
A tyre of a Delhi-bound Air India plane from Mumbai, with over 120 people onboard, was found deflated after landing at Jodhpur, following which the flight was briefly stalled leading to a delay of over three hours.
The flight (AI-476) operating on Airbus 319 aircraft on Mumbai-Delhi via Jodhpur route landed safely at Jodhpur airport this afternoon, but when it was to take off for Delhi one of its tyres was found deflated, a Jodhpur airport official told PTI over telephone.
He said, the plane landed at 11.40 am at Jodhpur airport, when pilot felt some unusual jerks. After observation it was found that one of the plane's tyres had reduced pressure.
The incident created panic for a moment after the news of plane's tyre burst spread, but was soon denied by the airport officials, he said.
An Air India spokesperson in New Delhi confirmed the incident saying one of the plane's tyre got deflated after it landed at Jodhpur.
Spare tyres, along with engineers and technicians, were sent from Delhi by another plane, following which it was repaired, he said.
The plane, with 128 passengers, finally took off for Delhi around 1605 hours after change of tyre, he said.
Meanwhile, Jodhpur Police Commissioner Ashok Kumar Rathore said that police team was sent from Ratanada Thana to Airport for any assistance if required by the airport authorities.
Airport officials said that while the tyre was being replaced, all the passengers were taken to the terminal and were taken care of.