El Al plane with faulty wheel makes emergency landing

Jerusalem, Apr 21: 181 people on board Israel's flag carrier on Tuesday underwent some tense moments when the plane had to make an emergency landing at Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv after part of a wheel came off.

An emergency was declared on El Al flight 2521 after tire shreds were found on the Ben-Gurion Airport runway from which the plane departed, according to the Israel Airports Authority.

Boeing 737-800 bound for Czech Republic's capital city Prague was carrying 181 passengers and crew members, made a successfull emergency landing. None of the passengers were injured, officilas said.

El Al said that the pilot was returning the plane to Israel in order to fix the tyre and said that passengers will be taken care of by El Al representatives at the airport.

Large numbers of emergency forces were deployed on the ground ahead of the emergency landing.

The airport's fire and emergency services were put on alert after the tyre fragments were discovered.

PTI