Delta Air Lines Flight 1966 landed safely at John F. Kennedy Airport on Tuesday after a report of flat front tires brought a large emergency response to the airport. The Airbus A321neo from San Juan was escorted to Terminal 4 Gate A14, and no one on board was hurt.
Authorities received a call at 4:45 p.m. local time reporting an inbound aircraft with two flat front tires. FDNY officials said 46 units and 141 fire and EMS personnel responded, treating the landing as an emergency before placing the scene under control just after 5 p.m., later marked at 5:06 p.m. The scale of that response stood in sharp contrast to Delta’s account, which said the aircraft had only some damage to one tire and that the situation was far more precautionary than needed.
The flight carried 170 passengers, two pilots and four flight attendants, and all 170 customers and six crew members were safely brought in after landing. Delta said maintenance determined the plane was suitable to keep taxiing under its own power to the gate for tire replacement rather than stopping on the taxiway, and the aircraft was cleared to taxi normally to the gate. The airline said the tire never blew and the damage was the result of tread wear.
That leaves the unanswered part of the episode: what caused the tire wear in the first place is still not explained. But the immediate problem was resolved without injuries, and the jet reached the gate safely after one of the bigger precautionary responses JFK has seen this week.
