Plane with 127 aboard in accident at S. Africa airport

A silhouette of a plane above skies/FILE

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 13 – A chartered aircraft with 127 people on board aborted take-off when one of its wheels caught fire Tuesday at South Africa’s main O.R. Tambo international airport on Tuesday, an airport official said.

“Global Aviation which was en route to Lilongwe, Malawi aborted take-off because one of its tyres apparently got alight,” airport spokeswoman Unathi Batyashe- Fillis told AFP.

The fire was extinguished and no injuries were reported among the 120 passengers and seven crew.

The flight was scheduled to take off at 7:30am (0530 GMT) from the airport’s cargo section.

The spokeswoman was not immediately clear about the type of aircraft involved.

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