Wrong Turn Grounds Jet

An Air China jumbo jet bound for Beijing got stuck early Sunday when it veered off a taxiway at Los Angeles International Airport, closing down the runway for hours, aviation officials said.

None of the 336 people on board were injured, officials said.

The incident began just before 2 a.m. when Flight 984’s pilot tried to turn right onto a runway on the airport’s southeast side before takeoff, said Nancy Castles, the airport’s public relations director.

The airplane, weighing more than 840,000 pounds, missed the turn to the main runway, which is made of asphalt bolstered by concrete. The wheels under the right wing broke through an area of asphalt 3 to 4 inches thick that “was not designed to hold that much weight,” Castles said.

When the pilot tried to accelerate out of the hole, the wheels dug in about 1 1/2 to 3 feet deep, Castles said.

“It’s similar to being stuck in the mud in a car,” she said.

The Boeing 747 was loaded with 313 passengers, 23 crew members, baggage and cargo for the nearly 13-hour transpacific flight.

As a work crew tried to extricate the airplane, passengers were bused back to the terminal at 3:10 a.m. and then taken to a nearby hotel about 5:30 a.m.

Airport workers, meanwhile, dug trenches around the tires and placed steel-mesh plates in the ground. They pumped out fuel to make the plane lighter so tractors could rock the plane onto the plates.

About 11:30 a.m., tractors towed the plane out of the hole and parked it near a cargo area. Workers then filled the hole with dirt and asphalt.

The runway was not reopened until 2:50 p.m.

Air traffic controllers were able to handle other flights without causing delays during the more than 12 hours the runway was closed, Castles said.

The original flight departed at 8 p.m. Sunday after maintenance crews changed the wheels on the plane, Castles said. On board were 26 fewer passengers than originally boarded.

Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the agency planned to begin an investigation this morning.

“This does happen from time to time,” he said. “The big issue is the fact that this plane is heavy.... Certainly, the heavier the aircraft, the more susceptible it is to getting stuck off the concrete.”

Kenitzer said he didn’t know what led the pilot to run his right wheel off the edge of the runway. Lights and painted markings show pilots where to drive on the taxiways and runways.

“You’re supposed to keep your nose-wheel in the center, on the yellow line,” he said.