A plane has collided with a maintenance vehicle on a runway during takeoff.
Passengers were on board the GOL Boeing 737 MAX as it prepared to leave Galeão International Airport in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday (11 February) evening.
The aircraft was departing from runway 10 – one of the longest runways in the world at 4,000 meters.
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But during the acceleration, it hit a maintenance vehicle, as reported by Need To Know.
Passengers on board reported hearing a noise like a “tyre bursting” followed by a strong vibration.
In a clip filmed by someone on the plane, a loud bang can be heard.
In a second video of the incident, the aircraft has been stopped and passengers are being escorted off of the plane.
Flight G3 1674 was bound for Fortaleza, Brazil.
It has not been confirmed what speed the plane was travelling at when it crashed into the motor but the captain informed passengers that they had collided with a vehicle.
Airport firefighters responded immediately, applying fire retardant to prevent a potential blaze.
In a conversation recorded between the plane and control tower, GOL pilots stated: “We aborted the takeoff, we hit a car in the middle of the runway, on 10.”
The controller responded: “Confirm, was the car in the middle of the runway or exiting on Charlie Charlie?”
The pilots replied: “On the centerline of the runway, on the centerline of the runway, it collided.”
In an official statement, RioGaleão, the company that manages Rio de Janeiro International Airport, said: “There was an incident with no victims between a maintenance vehicle and an aircraft on one of the airport’s runways on Tuesday night at around 10pm.
“There are no injuries and the passengers have already disembarked.
“The airport continues to operate normally for landings and takeoffs.”
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