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Jet tires blow at TIA

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By KEITH MORELLI

kmorelli@tampatrib.com

Published: June 28, 2009

TAMPA - What Cindy McGee will remember most about her trip to Philadelphia this week is the landing of her US Airways flight in Tampa this afternoon.

"There was a slam and we all went forward," she said a couple of hours after the hard landing at Tampa International Airport. "We skidded. After a while, the pilot said we had a problem and to stay on the plane."

U.S. Airways Flight 1241 blew its front tires as it landed, forcing the airport to shut down the busy north-south runway.

US Airways spokesman Jim Olson said that none of the 138 passengers and five crew members was injured in the incident. Among the passengers was television pitchman Billy Mays, authorities said.

Some passengers did have bumps and bruises, said the 53-year-old McGee, a nurse who also teaches nursing at the University of Tampa.

Others, including some children, were traumatized, said the 53-year-old Clearwater resident.

"All the passengers were taken off the aircraft and put on buses where they were escorted to a secure waiting area at the airside," said Brenda Geoghagan, airport spokeswoman.

An hour later, passengers were allowed to retrieve their baggage and sent on their way, she said. Many left the airport to the sight of the disabled plane on the runway, visible from the airport exit.

McGee, of Clearwater, who attended a nursing convention this week, was greeted by her husband, Kevin, and both left the terminal. They pulled off the road at the airport exit to watch the airplane be examined by safety officials.

She said passengers remained on the airplane for almost an hour before they were escorted through the rear exit.

"It wasn't until they got us to the terminal," McGee said, "that they told us that a tire blew."

She doesn't fly often, she said, and it may be a while before she gets on an airplane again.

Geoghagan said the FAA released the plane and the runway probably would be closed most of the evening.

"The really good news was that there were no injuries and everyone was taken off the plane and most people have left the airport," Olson said.

He said that blown tires are not common.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski contributed to this report.

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