Flights Land At Biggs Airfield To Avoid Debris On Airport Runway

Three flights were diverted to Biggs Army Airfield Thursday afternoon after they were unable to land at the El Paso International Airport.

A private jet blew a tire on the airport’s main runway, 4-22, causing the pilot to abort the takeoff, airport officials said.

That prevented other aircraft from landing from 1:35 p.m to 2:08 p.m.

Confused passengers onboard two Southwest Airlines and one American Airlines flight found themselves re-routed to Biggs Army Airfield on Fort Bliss.

One even called the ABC-7 newsroom to find out what the problem was.

A viewer who said her mother was on one of the Southwest flights told ABC-7 her mom reported “people are being patient but children are getting restless.”

The woman said a flight plan had to be created to get the planes from Biggs to the airport and that kept the planes on Fort Bliss property for a couple of hours.

Passengers were told to close all window shades due to the extreme heat and minimal airflow in the cabin, the woman said.

Airport officials were not able to confirm this information.

Flights resumed once airport employees removed debris from the blown tire and inspected the runway.