UPDATE: An update on yesterday's Allegiant flight with a blown tire. There were more delays for those passengers.
The original flight to Indianapolis with over 200 people on board returned to Las Vegas after the pilot declared an emergency when a tire deflated after takeoff.
Passengers boarded another airplane Wednesday afternoon, but that plane was pushed back to the gate because of maintenance problems. So they never got anywhere.
They finally took off this morning at about 10 a.m. And arrived in Indianapolis a little after 4 p.m. local time.
Allegiant Airlines released the following statement:
Allegiant flight 500, with scheduled service from Las Vegas to Indianapolis, Indiana departed McCarran International Airport (LAS) at 9:00 a.m.local time on June 22, 2016. During takeoff, one of the aircraft’s tires deflated. The plane safely left the ground and declared an emergency to return back to LAS. The plane landed safely at 11:14 a.m. and was inspected by Allegiant’s maintenance team and McCarran International Airport fire crews. The aircraft was deemed safe to taxi back to the gate under its own power. There were 206 passengers and 7 crew members on board. Passengers were deplaned and given meal vouchers.
Passengers boarded another aircraft which pushed back from the gate at 1:55 p.m. but returned to the gate shortly thereafter due to a maintenance issues.
The flight was subsequently rescheduled to June 23, 2016 and operated as flight 5500 departing LAS at 9:55 a.m. with an estimated arrival time of 4:08 p.m. local time in Indianapolis.
We apologize to our passengers for the disruption to their travel plans. All passengers were provided with meal vouchers and $150 dollars off vouchers for future travel on Allegiant. Passengers who reside more than 50 miles from the airport were provided with hotel accommodations. Passengers who chose not to fly on the rescheduled flight could change their itinerary to another in the Allegiant network or receive a refund of the airfare portion their itinerary.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Allegiant Airlines Flight #500 to Indianapolis returned to Las Vegas after officials say the front right tire blew out.
The plane, which was carrying 213 people, landed safely at McCarran International Airport around 10:57 a.m. on Wednesday. There were no reported injuries.
13 Action News will post updates as they become available.
