United Flight Aborts Takeoff at O'Hare After Tire Blows, Passengers Bused Off Runway

A United Airlines flight bound for Phoenix aborted its takeoff at O'Hare International Airport Thursday afternoon after one of its tires blew, sending 161 passengers and six crew members off the plane and onto the runway.

The incident happened around 1:45 p.m. aboard United Flight 455, a Boeing 737-900. United said the crew safely aborted the takeoff after the tire failure, and the aircraft came to a stop on the runway rather than the taxiway or gate. With the plane disabled in place, everyone on board had to leave through the exits directly onto the pavement instead of walking off through a jet bridge.

Video circulating on social media showed a heavy emergency response at the airport, with fire trucks and several buses lined up on the tarmac to collect passengers and drive them back to the terminal. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the account of the aborted takeoff and said all 167 people aboard got off the aircraft without a jet bridge.

United said in a statement issued around 4 p.m. that it was lining up another aircraft to carry the stranded Phoenix-bound travelers later Thursday evening. The airline did not immediately say how long the delay would run or provide a new departure time.

The grounded jet snarled traffic on the runway system for hours. The FAA reported that flights into and out of O'Hare were running an average of 25 minutes behind schedule as of 3:50 p.m., attributing the slowdown to the disabled aircraft blocking a runway. It wasn't immediately clear how long that runway remained out of service or when normal spacing between arrivals and departures resumed.

No injuries were reported among the passengers or crew. The FAA said it is investigating what caused the tire to fail during the takeoff roll.

Tire failures during takeoff are uncommon, but airlines and airports maintain procedures for handling them. Under Federal Aviation Administration guidelines, pilots reject a takeoff if a tire fails before the aircraft reaches V1, the speed beyond which stopping is considered riskier than continuing into the air. Once a plane stops on an active runway and cannot taxi under its own power, getting passengers off typically means bringing buses or stairs to the aircraft rather than routing it to a gate.

O'Hare is one of the busiest airports in the country, and a single blocked runway can slow traffic across the airfield for hours. Thursday's slowdown affected both arrivals and departures while crews worked to clear the runway.

United has not said whether the tire will be replaced on site or whether the aircraft will need to be towed for further inspection before it flies again. The airline also has not said how many of the Flight 455 passengers were rebooked onto the replacement aircraft or what time that flight ultimately left for Phoenix.

The FAA's investigation into the cause of the blowout is ongoing, and the agency has not released a timeline for when it expects to complete its review.