Qantas and American Airlines Incidents at LAX*

Photo by El A'shantiq via Flickr

Late Monday night at LAX, an Australian-bound Qantas Boeing 747 blew four tires while attempting to take off. The pilot aborted the takeoff after a warning light went on, braking suddenly, damaging the tires as the plane came to a rest to the side of a taxiway. It is unknown what caused the light

Rescue crews took everyone off the plane and Qantas provided hotels for passengers as they waited for new flight today at 12:45 p.m. No injuries were reported but one passenger was taken to the hospital as a precaution after one passenger felt ill.

Additionally, on Saturday, the first runway incursion of 2008 occurred when a San Diego-bound American Eagle Flight failed to stop before crossing a runway slated for an executive jet. Fortunately, the jet had no clearance and there was no immediate threat of an incident.

Due to a high number of runway close calls in the past, the FAA instituted a rule "requiring air traffic controllers at LAX Tower to get a correct 'read back' of instructions from pilots arriving and departing the airport," according to the Daily Breeze. "The pilot apparently repeated the controller's instructions to stop, but continued across the runway..."

Improvements to LAX are on there way with a $333 million runway renovation plan called The South Airfield Improvement Project. It's scheduled to be completed in June. Other projects include a stoplight system and more taxiway lighting.

*Denotes updated piece