An El Al jumbo jet with over 400 passengers aboard, landed safely Tuesday at Ben Gurion Airport despite two flat tires sustained during its take-off that touched off a crash alarm. Convoys of ambulances, fire engines and other emergency equipment rushed to the airport as army units and police set up roadblocks in anticipation of a possible crash. The Boeing 747 circled the airport at low altitude so that ground personnel could examine the condition of its landing gear. The pilot, however, brought the giant aircraft back to the tarmac with hardly a jolt, El Al is investigating this incident and similar incidents of ruptured tires at take-offs and landings in recent weeks. Some sources blame the unusually hot weather, but the composition of the rubber used in the tires is under investigation.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
