Plane Evacuated Following Aborted Takeoff

An airplane malfunction and aborted takeoff Thursday evening led to a plane being evacuated and significant delays at Philadelphia International Airport.

U.S. Airways Flight 1702 had just taken off for Fort Lauderdale when it had what airport officials called a “nose-gear malfunction.”

Airport officials were quick to caution that the incident was not a crash despite multiple reports from passengers and people on the ground calling it just that.

The plane’s emergency slides were deployed and passengers evacuated. At least one person was injured, airport officials said.

There were some media reports that the plane had blown a tire, but airport officials said they were unable to confirm that.

The FAA issued a ground stop while the plane was removed from the runway, which Philadelphia International Airport said led to delays of about 2 hours and 17 minutes. The ground stop lasted about two and a half hours, and some flights were diverted during that time, officials said.