Tires Explode in Emergency Landing of Airliner at Tijuana

The tires on the landing gear of an Aeromexico DC-10 with more than 100 passengers aboard burst in an emergency landing Friday night at Tijuana International Airport, but most passengers escaped injury.

The airport was ordered closed, probably through Monday morning, while officials began their investigation into the mishap that left the huge aircraft sitting in the middle of the runway.

The only injuries were the result of rushed evacuations down emergency chutes, airport officials said. None required hospital treatment.

The plane arrived at Tijuana from Mexico City and was scheduled to leave for Guadalajara at 5:45 p.m. as Flight 131. The plane did not take off until about 10 p.m., however, and controllers ordered it back to the airport when the crew reported that the left landing gear did not retract normally and that they could not retract it by hand.

The tires on the locked landing gear exploded on touchdown. A brief fire spread to the left engine but was quickly extinguished by firefighters, officials said.