By CHRIS DANIELS
A police helicopter flew underneath a Boeing 737-300 jet checking for a burst tyre yesterday while passengers braced themselves for an emergency landing at Auckland Airport.
Crew on Polynesian Airlines flight PH835 had been told by Tongan airport officials that one of the plane's tyres had blown out on
takeoff.
The plane circled over Auckland, burning off fuel and allowing the police helicopter to fly underneath.
Sergeant Brian Pilkington said about 400m separated the helicopter and the Boeing while police used high-powered stabilised binoculars to check the wheels. The situation was never dangerous, he said.
"There's plenty of separation. We're in touch with ground control and the pilot the whole time. You've just got to know what you're looking for."
The police reported some "shredding" but rubber covering most of the wheels.
The 109 passengers and seven crew were then asked to brace themselves for the landing as fire, police and ambulance crews waited beside the runway.
It landed safely about 11.45 am.
Sergeant Pilkington said the helicopter crew were able to tell the aircraft crew, via the control tower, that the tyres looked suitable to land on.
Some rubber was missing from one of them, but the wheels were still covered.
A flight attendant said passengers were "pretty relaxed" about the landing and were aware of what was going on. One woman returning to Auckland from a family funeral in Samoa was Lagi Yandall, who said she was glad to be back safely on the ground after a long trip. "I was scared," she said.
Airport operations general manager David Hansen said a full emergency response had been called, on the pilot's advice.
A blown tyre is suspected to have caused the recent Concorde disaster at France's Charles de Gaulle airport, that killed all 109 people aboard.
A piece of metal on the runway is thought to have blown one of the plane's tyres, causing catastrophic damage to its fuel tanks.
It is not yet known what caused the tyre damage on the Polynesian Airlines flight.
