A QantasLink plane made a "textbook emergency landing" at Tamworth Regional Airport last night after blowing a tire on take-off.
The Q300 Dash-8 aircraft, carrying 44 passengers and four crew members, blew a tire as it left Sydney bound for Armidale Airport about 7pm.
Shortly after take-off passengers alerted the crew that one of the tires on the right side of the landing gear had suffered a failure.
A decision was made to divert the plane to Tamworth due to the additional maintenance capabilities QantasLink has located there.
Emergency services, including six Fire and Rescue NSW units, four Rural Fire Service tankers, a Hazmat unit, four police vehicles and five ambulances, were dispatched to the airport.
The plane circled the airport for close to an hour to burn fuel - standard practice in emergency situations - before landing on the remaining tires.
Tamworth Regional Airport manager Julie Stewart said flight QF2034 touched down safely just after 9pm.
"It was a textbook emergency landing," she said. "Fortunately no one on board required any medical attention and there was no debris found on the runway afterwards, or any damage to the tarmac," she said.
Firefighters examined the plane for any fuel or fire threats before passengers were released and put on a waiting bus to continue their journey to Armidale.
Maintenance crews inspected the aircraft, replaced the blown tire and cleared it to return to service this morning.
Story and photo gallery: http://www.northerndailyleader.com.au
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