The Nation - News from Aug. 21, 1988

An Eastern Airlines jet from Miami blew two tires upon landing at National Airport in Washington, closing the airport for 3 1/2 hours and stranding thousands of travelers. No one was injured when the Boeing 727, carrying 149 passengers and seven crew members, skidded along a major runway and stopped where the airport’s two main runways intersect, an airport spokesman said. The plane landed in heavy rains but investigators did not know if the weather contributed to the blowouts. The blocked runways caused cancellation of 43 flights at National, diversion of 22 more to other airports and delayed flights up and down the East Coast, officials said.