Plane Blows Tire, Skids Off Philly Runway

On Thursday night, passengers got a scare when a US Airways plane aborted takeoff at Philadelphia International Airport — after the aircraft blew a tire and the nose gear collapsed on the runway. The jet was carrying 149 passengers and five crew members when it crashed, and two women were transported to the hospital — one with a minor injury and another with a minor illness, according to CNN.

Flight 1702 was on its way to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, scheduled to take off at 5:50 p.m. The pilot decided to abort the flight after the tire issue, but the plane ended up skidding on the runway with its nose in the ground around 6:25 p.m. Crews deployed the emergency slides and, luckily, all travelers evacuated safely. The passengers were rescheduled on later flights and finally made it to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport early Friday.

One passenger said the plane was airborne, then was struck back down. Others reported that it was bouncing.

"There was a lot of screaming and crying," Dennis Fee told NBC. "...As we first hit the ground, flight attendants were yelling to keep our heads down."

Passengers were out in the field after evacuation and police had to put up barriers to keep people from the strong winds. Some officers even put women and children in their cars to keep them warm. Some travelers shared the experience on social media: One Tweeted a picture of the incident, writing "...so my plane just crashed."

Then posted a selfie of epic proportions, with the aircraft and emergency responders in the background.

After the crash, crews sprayed protective foam around parts of the plane as a precaution, since hydraulic fluid was leaking from the landing gear. Incoming and departing flights were temporarily delayed as the airport shut down its four runways. Engineers spent the night inspecting the jet, and the investigation is still ongoing.

Image: Facebook/Dennis Fee