A British family returning from a Mediterranean getaway were left terrified after a plane tyre burst in an extraordinary one-in-10,000 takeoff mishap.
Kris Sadler was horrified when the blowout occurred just as the aircraft was preparing to become airborne. He captured footage of the alarming explosion and the frightening vibrations it sent through the wing.
Kris was travelling back from Corfu to Birmingham with his wife Katie and their sons Olly, 13, and Zach, 9. They were aboard a TUI aircraft when the nerve-wracking blast took place.
“It was scary,” Kris, from Telford, Shropshire, revealed to Luxury Travel Daily. “There were bits of tyre flying everywhere.
“The whole wing was rippling. I knew something was wrong but the crew took two hours to tell us.”
“I don’t blame them – the crew were brilliant. The pilot was good – thank goodness we had a pilot who trains other pilots.
“He told us he was handing over to his co pilot to fly us home. But later he told us he would be landing because we’d lost a tyre.
“He said the plane was a hundred per cent safe but passengers had to take precautions and go into the brace position.
“And as we came into touch down the crew were saying, ‘heads down, heads down, heads down’ repeatedly which kind of makes you panic more.
“It was pretty crazy. It’s a one-in-10,000 chance of a plane tyre blowing – so that’s mine ticked off. It’s probably never going to happen again.”
The photographer noted that emergency crews were standing by when they touched down at Birmingham. They doused the damaged wheel with water, he explained.
“It appeared there were sparks when we touched down but the landing was very smooth. It was somewhat bumpy because it was running on a deflated tyre.
“But it has other tyres so I suppose we knew we’d be OK. I was just trying to hold it together for the kids – and my wife was trying to hold it together.
“And she did until we landed and then it all came out. I was saying to them, ‘it’s all ok’ but I was thinking, ‘bloody hell if this goes wrong’.
“I didn’t know if there was more damage to the landing gear – and nor did the crew. But the pilot lowered the landing gear 15 minutes before we were due to land and I know they never do it that early.
“Then a black military jet appeared next to us and flew all the way in to landing with us. It had come to scout out the landing gear and tyre to see if it was OK.
“All the passengers cheered and clapped when we landed. The pilot came out and bowed. I don’t know how dangerous it really was.
“We may never have been in danger – or it might have been very dangerous and the pilot just pulled it off.
“There were some tears – but it was brilliant to get back on solid ground and all safe.”
TUI has been approached for comment.