RSW Airport Closed - Flat Tire Creates Massive Mess

 

FORT MYERS, FL. -- Southwest Florida International Airport's runway is closed until 7 p.m. tonight according to the FAA. 

A United Airlines flight from Newark, N.J. had a flat tire upon landing at the RSW airport's single runway (06/24) this morning at 11 a.m., causing all operations, departures and arrivals to be halted.

Thousands of passengers were stranded in the terminal all day, and many presumably missed connections at hub airports they were flying to. Other passengers enroute to Fort Myers found themselves in Miami or Fort Lauderdale. One Delta passenger at Fort Myers said the airline offered a free meal to her as compensation for the inconvenience. 

The jet, apparently landing to the southwest on runway 24, stopped a bit more than half way down the 12,000 foot runway, ending up on a taxiway near the 168 foot high control tower. 

The Lee County Port Authority failed to notify the public of the runway closure problem on either it's Facebook page or the LCPA website. No announcements were made at all in the terminal building to notify passengers of the runway being closed so no flight could take off. Lots of announcements were made, however, about making sure pets were on a leash or in a pet carrier in the terminal building.

The United flight was the last plane to land today at RSW while Spirit flight to Detroit took off a few minutes before, and was the last plane to depart this morning.

One fully loaded Delta Airline flight was waiting on the taxiway ready to depart when passengers were told there would be a delay. It never got off the ground as all aircraft were grounded. Lee County Airport Authority personnel, fire trucks and emergency vehicles lined the field around the United Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft all afternoon. 

Arrivals today were being diverted to other airports in South Florida.

Photo credits: Don Browne

UPDATE: The FAA revised the notice for the closed runway until 7:59 P.M. The first planes have now departed, a Flexjet private jet and a United Parcel jet. Two arrivals are scheduled for tonight and a full normal schedule continuing tomorrow morning.