F-16 aircraft crash averted during Aero India 2009

Bangalore: A tyre of an F-16N Super Viper fighter aircraft of the global defence and aerospace major Lockheed Martin burst on landing during the final day of the Aero India 2009 at Yelahanka Airbase on Sunday.

Paul Randal, the pilot of the aircraft, successfully brought the aircraft to a halt and escaped unhurt. The emergency drill was activated and fire tenders and an ambulance rushed to the aircraft.

However, Lockheed Martin said in a statement that “no one was injured.”

"The tyre was changed within 30 minutes, which is a perfect example of this aircraft's maintainability," the company said.

The statement said the Air Force show safety coordinators were "very impressed with the rapidity with which the tyre was changed".