A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 faced a six-hour delay after a tire burst during takeoff at Salt Lake City International Airport. The incident occurred on March 21, as the aircraft was preparing to depart for Oakland International Airport. According to Flightradar24 data, the flight was aborted at 14:43 local time.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) defines the takeoff roll as the phase when an aircraft aligns with the runway centerline and moves forward intending to take off. During this process, the pilots halted their attempt due to the tire burst, which led to the aircraft stopping on a taxiway adjacent to the runway.
An airport spokesperson confirmed reports from KSL NewsRadio about the tire burst incident. Following this, Southwest Airlines dispatched a replacement Boeing 737-700 from Denver International Airport. This spare aircraft landed in Salt Lake City at 18:33 and departed for Oakland at 20:40 under flight WN2796. Passengers originally scheduled for this journey arrived in Oakland at 21:13, later than their expected arrival of 15:30.