Private Jet Delayed as Wheel Pierces Taxiway in Van Nuys

That old sinking feeling returned to Van Nuys Airport on Tuesday morning when the pilot of a Boeing 727 jet owned by the manufacturer of Guess clothes apparently missed a turn and steered the craft onto a patch of non-reinforced asphalt, stranding the craft for nearly two hours.

In January, a similar jet chartered by University of Wisconsin football fans--already angry over a Rose Bowl ticket snafu--sank through thin asphalt on the same taxiway. Charter officials blamed poor directions from the tower.

Airport officials this time blamed the pilot of the 727.

“Apparently he missed his turn and tried to turn around,” airport spokeswoman Stacy Geere said. “It entered into an area that was not stressed for that kind of aircraft.”

The jet was mired for more than two hours after the 9:37 a.m. incident, but did not disrupt air traffic, Geere said.

Airport workers chipped away sections of asphalt around the wheel that punctured the asphalt, and wedged a metal plank under the tires so a tow truck could pull it out, Geere said. By afternoon, the plane was aloft and en route to Miami.

In the January incident, the owner of the jet blamed the Federal Aviation Administration controllers for directing the plane onto a weak segment of taxiway in preparation for takeoff. Controllers hoped to avoid such an incident Tuesday by guiding the craft from the east taxiway to one better equipped for heavy aircraft, according to Geere. The pilot, however, missed the taxiway entrance, and then got stuck trying to turn around.

Officials at Guess and the Van Nuys company that handles the aircraft would not comment.

“It was a non-event and the plane now is en route to Miami,” said a company spokeswoman in New York.