Southwest plane's tires blow at Sacramento airport

SACRAMENTO, Calif.?? Rescue firefighters responded to a Southwest Airlines flight in distress after two tires blew on the runway Tuesday evening, leaving the jet and its passengers grounded.

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The left main tires blew at about 6:15 p.m. as Southwest flight 2287 was departing for Seattle, Sacramento International Airport spokeswoman Laurie Slothower said.

Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Katie McDonald said the pilot quickly aborted the takeoff and emergency crews were called in to hose down the 737 as a precautionary measure. They later set up a portable stairway to let the 130 passengers off the plane.

"I want to stress that there were no injuries tonight, and the tires never caught on fire," Slothower said.

McDonald said all passengers were being booked onto other flights.

Officials have not determined what caused the blowout and the incident is being investigated. In the meantime, one of the airport's two runways remains closed.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45802389/ns/travel-news/

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