Saturday, April 23, 2016

Incident occurred April 23, 2016 at San Antonio International Airport (KSAT), Texas



SAN ANTONIO - Flights resumed at the San Antonio International Airport Saturday afternoon after a small place fire caused delays for more than 5 hours.    
After landing at around 8:45 a.m., the plane's brakes caught fire. No injuries were reported.

The shutdown of the runway caused headaches for both the airport and travelers, but those who were delayed were in good spirits.

For several hours, planes sat with their engines running at the gates.

"We were first one in line to depart," said Jackson Longan.

Longan was taxing for takeoff on his flight to Washington D.C. when the pilot turned on the intercom.

"And said if you look out the right side of the plane you'll see there's a corporate jet that's broken down on the runway," said Longan.

The airport says after landing just before nine the plane's brakes caught fire.

The four people on board the Hawker Beechcraft jet were not hurt.

'They say an hour and a half [to remove the plane]," said Longan. "But I don't know how long that's really going to take."

At noon, airport officials said a crane had been brought to the scene and they were in the process of towing away the plane

Dozens of commercial flights in and out of San Antonio were either diverted or delayed as crews used a crane to lift the plane off the airport's only operational runway.

"The other one is being worked on right now and it is a mandated construction," said Evelyn Bailey, spokesperson for the San Antonio International Airport.

An airport spokesperson said more time was required because they follow a protocol designed to keep the runway safe. Flights resumed at around 2:30 p.m., but there are still long delays and some flights have been canceled.

The delay had a domino effect for those hoping to make connecting flights like Jim Estes, who was traveling to Tampa, Florida.

"Just playing the waiting game," said Longan.

The corporate jet was removed and the runway was reopened a little after 2:30 in the afternoon.

"It's one of those things it's out of my hands," said Longan. "Accept the things you cannot change, right?"

Airport officials are advising passengers to check with their airlines for a flight status.

Original article can be found here: http://news4sanantonio.com



A fire on a small corporate jet at San Antonio International Airport forced a closure of the facility and delayed arriving and departing flights for a nearly seven hours Saturday.

The emergency was reported by the airport at 7:40 a.m. when the pilots of a jet carrying four individuals reported the wheels of the aircraft caught fire during takeoff, said airport spokeswoman Evelynn Bailey.

Emergency crews responded and the fire was extinguished. There were no injuries reported.

The fire delayed all inbound and outbound flights as crews worked to remove the jet by a crane, assess runway conditions and complete a cleanup of the airport’s lone operational commercial runway.

Flight operations resumed at about 2:35 p.m.

San Antonio International Airport has two commercial runway. The second runway had already been closed for construction. That runway will not be operational for flight operations until October, Bailey said.

A third runway for smaller aircraft remained open.

Bailey said exact numbers on passengers or flights effected by the shutdown were not yet available, but no flights were cancelled.

Original article can be found here:   http://www.expressnews.com



2:35 p.m.: The San Antonio International Airport reports through social media that the runway is now clear and has been opened for normal flight operations.

1:40 p.m.: The San Antonio International Airport has tweeted out that crews continue to clear the runway and that estimated time for normal flight operations to resume is now 2:30 p.m.

Original story continues: 

A fire on a small commercial aircraft at San Antonio International Airport has left the status of all inbound and outbound flights up in the air as both runways for large jets at the airport have been temporarily shut down.

No one was injured when the aircraft reported its wheels caught fire at about 8:46 a.m. on Saturday, Evelynn Bailey, an airport spokeswoman said.

Emergency crews responded and the fire was extinguished.

The runway was the lone working runway for commercial aircraft at the airport because a second runway had been shut down for routine maintenance.

A third runway for smaller aircraft remained open.

The runaway is expected to reopen about 1 p.m. as the integrity of the runway must be checked and secure before flights can continue, Bailey said.

Though at 1:04 the airport reported over social media that crews were still working the scene.

People are being told to check with their airlines for status updates on their flights.

The spokeswoman said there was no available numbers on how many people are affected by the shut down at this time. 

Original article can be found here: http://www.mysanantonio.com

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