SARASOTA – A United Airlines 737, taking off at SRQ this afternoon was forced to return to the gate after it blew a tire.
Airport President and CEO Rick Piccolo tells SNN United Flight 642 was taking off when it blew a tire at about the middle of the runway.
The pilot safely brought the plane to a halt and then headed back to the gate to deplane the passengers.
Airport operations were shut down at 2:31 PM and opened exactly one hour later, once emergency crews removed debris from the runway surface.
No injuries reported.