There was a delay and some apprehension this morning on flight XZ 2336, departing Cagliari and bound for Rome. An Aeroitalia Boeing 737-800 carrying 182 passengers and six crew members took off from the Sardinian capital five minutes after noon, arriving at Fiumicino Airport at 1:45 PM, almost an hour later than scheduled.
The delay was apparently caused by a puncture in one of the plane's tires . Confirmation comes from the airline, which describes the "damage" to one of the wheels "attributable to the presence of a foreign object (technically known as Foreign Object Debris) on the runway at Cagliari airport, which caused the puncture during takeoff." This is according to an initial analysis of the incident.
This version is also confirmed by the presence of some tire parts on the runway at Cagliari airport, as specified by airport sources. Sogaer, the Cagliari airport management company, is awaiting further investigation by the competent authorities.
Another detail emerges from Rome: the pilots, given the situation, burned fuel in flight to reduce the weight of the plane during landing. This last step may have caused the delay in arrival.
The flight was not without its moments of apprehension for the passengers . An Agi reporter on board reported: "It was clear that something was wrong...shortly after takeoff, with the aircraft appearing wobbly and unbalanced and the opening of the hatch with the oxygen masks on some seats."
The rescue teams on duty at Fiumicino were deployed on the ground waiting for the plane . "All those involved in managing the emergency were pre-alerted and operational from the very beginning following takeoff from Cagliari Elmas," the Rome Airports press office reported. "The method of disembarking passengers, directly onto the taxiway, was decided by the firefighters, after assessing the condition of the aircraft, to avoid moving it on the runway with a damaged wheel."
Aeroitalia explains that " the landing took place in completely safe conditions , without consequences for passengers and crew members. The checks carried out by technical personnel did not reveal any elements attributable to anomalies or malfunctions of the aircraft."
